Legal Working Hours in England

Sam usually works 48 hours a week. He did not decide not to set the weekly limit. Contact the Acas Helpline or use the Acas Online Helpline for more information about working hours. Your employer may ask you to work «on-call,» also known as «on-call,» outside of your regular working hours. You only need to work on call if it`s in your contract. An employer may require an employee to work more than 48 hours per week. This is true as long as they reduce the employee`s working hours in the future to compensate for their average weekly working time. The more restrictive these conditions are, the more likely it is that your on-call time will be working time. You can count the time spent on job-related training as work time if your employer has agreed to complete the training. It doesn`t matter if your employer pays for training or not.

Their combined working hours should not exceed 48 hours per week on average. On average, your employer cannot let you work more than 48 hours a week. It doesn`t matter what`s in your contract or if you don`t have a written contract. If you want to work more than 48 hours per week, you can sign an agreement to refuse the maximum weekly working time. It`s your decision – your employer can`t make you withdraw. Samantha`s average working time is less than the maximum of 48 hours. Tracey works an average of 30 hours a week in a factory. This week, she tells the factory manager that she has also started working 20 hours a week in a coffee shop. I agree that [insert name] agrees that I can work more than 48 hours per week on average. If I change my mind, I will terminate my employer [insert time limit, which may be up to three months] in writing to terminate this Agreement. However, there are limited exceptions to the average 48-hour week, where employees may be required to work more than 48 hours per week when working, for example: In addition to performing your normal duties, your work week includes: If you are under 18, you cannot work more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.

You must count any time you spend away from home in your working time, if you have agreed with your employer. According to the Working Time Directive, `working time` means any period during which a person works, is at the disposal of the employer and carries out his activities or duties. This means that when calculating what counts as working time, employers must consider the following: Step 3: Calculate your average weekly hours by dividing your hours worked by the number of days Pregnant workers also have extensive health and safety rights, such as protection from long working hours or physically demanding work. If you are breastfeeding or within 26 weeks of giving birth, you will continue to have these rights. If you are 18 years of age or older and want to work more than 48 hours per week, you can opt out of the 48-hour limit. This must be done voluntarily and in writing. This cannot be an agreement with all staff, and you should not be fired, discriminated against or disadvantaged, such as refusal of a promotion or overtime, for refusing to sign an opt-out. Understand the basics of working time arrangements in the UK, working time trends, holidays and special leave. If you add up your working time, omit the days off: you should only count lunch in your working hours if you actually worked, for example during a lunch with a client. In this guide for employers, we explain the rules and regulations governing statutory working hours in the UK and how you can meet your obligations to meet your company`s staffing needs while ensuring the health and safety of your employees. According to the law, an employee cannot work more than 48 hours per week on average, unless one of the following conditions applies: If you opt out of the working time provisions, you may have to work more than 48 hours per week on average. Learn what you can do if you want to cancel your opt-out agreement.

Employers in the UK do not have to pay overtime. In fact, unpaid overtime is common in the UK. According to research, UK employees worked £24 billion worth of unpaid overtime in 2020. Your employment contract should include rules for overtime and whether you will receive compensation. However, your average earnings, including overtime, may not be below minimum wage and your employer cannot force you to work more than 48 hours per week on average. If you are ill for any reason, you may receive statutory sickness benefits in the UK. To apply for sick pay, you must have four days of leave in a row, not be in an ineligible category and follow the sickness benefit rules. You may need to provide a medical certificate if you are sick for seven days or more. The situation may be different if you have a fixed-term or zero-hour contract, so check with your employer.

You will not receive sick pay if you are self-employed. You can`t work more than 48 hours a week on average – usually more than 17 weeks on average. This law is sometimes referred to as the «Working Time Directive» or «Working Time Regulation». All employees are legally entitled to at least 28 days of paid vacation if they work five or more days a week. If you work less than five days, your holiday entitlement will be reduced accordingly. Your employer may offer more than your minimum entitlement to paid leave. The most important things you need to know about holiday rights are: Under the Working Time Directive, a person cannot work more than 48 hours per week on average in the UK, although the average working time is calculated over a certain reference period, usually 17 weeks. This means that a person can work more than 48 hours in a given week, provided that the 17-week weekly average is less than 48 hours. As regards night work – and in addition to the obligation under the Working Time Directive to ensure that a worker`s working time does not exceed the maximum night working time and to keep records – employers are subject to additional legal obligations.

This is due to the increased likelihood that night work will affect a person`s health. According to the Working Time Ordinance, most employees should not have to work more than 48 hours per week on average. The regulations also entitle you to paid holidays, breaks and restrictions on night work. As regards night workers, they may not derogate from the night work limit set by the Working Time Directive, unless a collective agreement or employment contract so provides. If night work limits do not apply, the rules on rest breaks mean that workers must instead be given compensatory breaks to compensate for their extra working time. Employers must continue to follow the general rules on maximum weekly working hours. Your average working time is calculated over a period of 17 weeks. You can work more than 48 hours per week as long as the average is less than 48. The Working Time Directive provides explicit rules on the maximum weekly working time, but no specific limit on daily working time, provided that the average working time during the worker`s reference period is less than 48 hours per week.

Instead, the rules and regulations contain legal provisions for pension entitlements, including: It can be difficult to determine whether on-call time counts as working time. If you can`t agree with your employer, contact your nearest Citizen Advice Centre. Adult workers are entitled to a 20-minute rest period if they have to work more than six hours at a time. If you work the same hours each week and have not taken a break in the last 17 weeks, add your overtime to your contract hours. If the total number is greater than 48, you work more than the legal limit. Selected cases on working time, including on-call time, travel time and opt-out agreements an uninterrupted (unpaid) break of 20 minutes from work when the working day lasts more than six hours. The break must be taken during work hours (i.e. not at the beginning or end of your shift); Guidelines on working time and the organisation of working time The law obliges employers to keep records of night workers` hours to prove that they do not work more than 8 hours on average in a 24-hour period. In a new ruling in May 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that employers must record employees` daily working time. This is a change in the law that goes beyond the current working time regulations, which do not oblige employers to keep a current sum of the average working time per day or week. The Working Time Directive also provides for specific rules and regulations for night workers, defined as those who normally work at least 3 hours during the night.

In most cases, a night worker should not work more than 8 hours on average over a 24-hour period, usually calculated over a reference period of 17 weeks. If night work involves hazards in the workplace or severe physical or mental stress, the employer must ensure that an employee`s shift does not exceed 8 hours in 24 hours.