Who does the WTD cover?
The WTD has applied to the vast majority of employees in EU member states since 1998, with a few exceptions including junior doctors in training. Consultants, doctors outside training and most other NHS staff have been subject to the WTD since 1998. Details of the general implementation of the WTD in the NHS, and the national collective agreements reached, are set out in HSC 1998/204: Working Time Regulations implementation in the NHS. In 2004, the WTD provisions extended to junior doctors, whose maximum average working hours had to be reduced to 56 by August 2007 and 48 hours from August 2009.
