Working hours
If you employ staff, you need to understand and comply with EU rules on working time. You must guarantee your workers minimum standards set by EU rules on daily and weekly rest periods, breaks, night work as well as annual leave and maximum weekly working time.
Warning
Always check which rules apply as national rules or collective agreements may be more favourable to workers.Working time
As an employer, you must ensure that your staff does not work more than 48 hours per week (including overtime). Depending on the national rules in place, this limit may be averaged over a reference period of up to 4, 6 or 12 months.
Daily and weekly rest periods
- Daily rest: You must give employees at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest in any 24-hour period
- Weekly rest: Employees are entitled to at least 24 hours of uninterrupted weekly rest per each 7-day period, over a reference period of 2 weeks.
Breaks
If your employees work more than 6 hours a day, you must ensure that they are given a break. The duration of this break is usually specified in collective agreements or by national law.
Night and shift work
Employees qualify as night workers if they work at least 3 hours of their daily shift during a designated night period of at least 7 hours which is defined by national law and includes the time from midnight to 5 AM.
They also qualify as night workers if they spend a certain proportion of their yearly working time during this night period. This means that even if they don’t work night shifts every day, but regularly work nights over the year, they qualify as night workers and are entitled to special protections.
- Working time limits: Night workers may not work more than an average of 8 hours per 24 hours over a reference period set by the Member State. If their work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain, an 8-hour limit must be respected for every 24 period (no averaging).
- Health assessments: Night workers and shift workers must be offered free health assessments before they start working night shifts or rotating shifts. Health assessments must respect medical confidentially and be undertaken at regular intervals. If a worker suffers from health problems due to night work, you must transfer them to day work or a more suitable shift whenever possible.
Sample story
Emma's eligibility for night worker protections in a 24/7 factory
Emma works as a maintenance technician for a factory that operates 24/7. She doesn’t work night shifts every day, but about twice a month, she is scheduled to cover the night shift from 11 PM to 7 AM. Over the course of a year, these regular night shifts add up to a certain proportion of her working hours. Because she consistently works during the night period throughout the year, Emma qualifies as a night worker. This means she’s entitled to the protections described above, such as limits on her nightly working hours and regular health assessments.
Annual leave
Under EU working time rules, you must provide your workers with a minimum of four weeks paid annual leave. If you employ temporary and part-time workers, they are entitled to paid annual leave on a pro-rata basis. A worker who is on sick leave has the right to be granted annual leave for a different period. This means that a worker who is on sick leave during a period of planned annual leave has the right to take that annual leave at a different time, at his or her request, whether sick leave begins before or during the planned paid annual leave.
Rest periods in exceptional circumstances
If the work requires continuity of presence, service or production, you may be allowed to, depending on national laws or collective agreements, apply limited derogations from the minimum rest periods set out in EU rules. You can do so if you hire staff working in services such as:
- hospitals or similar establishments
- fire and civil protection services
- industries where work cannot be interrupted for technical reasons
- agriculture.
Such derogations may also be provided for in an applicable collective agreement, provided that the health and safety of workers are respected. However, all derogations are subject to strict conditions. You must give workers equivalent compensatory rest for any missed rest periods immediately following the period of work it is meant to balance.
Sample story
Crisis response and compensatory rest: Paulien’s experience as a nurse
During a severe storm, Paulien, a nurse, is asked to stay beyond her shift due to a surge in emergency cases. Normally, she’d get an 11-hour rest period, but it's postponed due to the crisis. Once the situation stabilises, Paulien is given extra rest to recover, the following day.
Warning
In exceptional cases where granting compensatory rest is not possible for objective reasons, the worker must still receive appropriate protection.On-call and stand-by time
Workers employed in sectors like healthcare, emergency services and technical maintenance are often required to be “on-call” or on “stand-by.” If you require workers to be on-call or on stand-by, you should be aware of EU rules that define how this kind of work counts towards working hours.
On-call: If an employee is required to be at the workplace, or another place determined by
the employer, while on-call, this time is considered working time under EU law. It
must be fully counted as part of the employee's working hours.
Sample story
Maria's on-call shift at the hospital counts as working time
Maria is a doctor at a hospital and is scheduled for an on-call shift. She must remain at the hospital, ready to assist in emergencies. During her on-call time, even when she’s not actively treating patients, she must stay on-site and be immediately available. This entire period counts as working time under EU law.
Stand-by: If an employee is on 'stand-by', meaning not at a place determined by the employer (for example, they can be at home), the constraints you impose will determine whether part or all of the stand-by time counts as working time. Where the constraints imposed on the worker by the employer during the ‘stand-by’ do not prevent the worker from pursuing his or her own interest, only the time linked to the actual provision of services must be regarded as ‘working time’. Bear in mind that national laws vary on how standby time is interpreted and there may also be specific conditions and agreements in place.
Sample story
EU working time rules for stand-by shifts: Alex’s case
Alex is a maintenance technician and one night a week he is on stand-by and can stay at home or any other place of his choosing with a proximity to the workplace. His employer requires him to respond to all calls (i.e. he is not able to choose whether to respond to a call or not) and he must be at the workplace within five minutes of the call being made. Under EU rules, the entire stand-by period counts as working time.
Opt-out agreements
If permitted by national law, you may have an agreement with a staff member to work beyond the weekly 48-hour limit. Employees can refuse to give their agreement, or they can revoke it at any moment without repercussions. You need to keep up-to-date records of all workers who carry out such work. This opt-out only applies to the weekly maximum working time limit, not to the other working time rules.
Sample story
Francesco's right to prioritise work-life balance
Francesco, an IT specialist, is asked to opt out of the 48-hour work week limit for occasional projects. Valuing his work-life balance, he declines. His employer respects his decision, allowing him to maintain his standard hours without any negative consequences.
Special cases
- Transport workers: When your staff operate transport services for passengers or goods by rail, air, road or waterway, you must follow special working time rules.
- Young workers: If you employ young workers there are also special working time rules which apply.
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