Fines up to PLN 30,000 for breaking driving time rules during night hours

Night time, mentioned in Article 2 paragraph 6a) of the Law on the working time of drivers, is defined as a period of 4 hours between 00:00 and 7:00, and this definition only applies to determine the working time.

According to Article 21, when work is performed during night time, a driver’s working time cannot exceed 10 hours in a given 24-hour period.
A 24-period is defined as consecutive 24 hours starting with the hour when the driver begins work according to his schedule.
The working time does not include:
1. duty hours, if the driver did not perform any work during this time
2. unjustified stops during the driving time
3. daily uninterrupted rest period
4. work breaks resulting from the interrupted working time system
Therefore, the driver only has to drive a vehicle for a few minutes or perform any other activity during night time (i.e. during the 4 hours between midnight and 7 a.m.) to trigger the obligatory limit of the working time to 10 hours.
In practice, it may turn out that in the case of an inspection at the driver’s company, only working time violations related to night time hours can result in maximum fines, namely:
1) PLN 15,000 – for a company employing up to 10 drivers over a period of 6 months before the start of the inspection
2) PLN 20,000 – for a company employing from 10 to 50 drivers over a period of 6 months before the start of the inspection
3) PLN 25,000 – for a company employing from 50 to 250 drivers over a period of 6 months before the start of the inspection
4) PLN 30,000 – for a company employing over 250 drivers over a period of 6 months before the start of the inspection
Additionally, fines for violating working time rules during night hours can be imposed by officials of the National Labour Inspectorate.