The Working Time Regulations

The Working Time Regulations is legislation that is in place to protect individual’s health, safety and wellbeing. They apply to those working in England, Scotland and Wales.

The law on working time sets rules for:

• the maximum weekly working hours
• rest during the working day, week and year
• night work
• young workers’ maximum working hours and rest breaks

By law, working time is when someone is:

• at the employer’s ‘disposal’ – this means the employer can tell them what they can or cannot do in that time or tells them where they need to be
• carrying out work activities, duties and training

Working time usually includes time spent:

• travelling to a customer or client, for example if the job is a field-based role
• training, if this is needed to do the job
• being on call while at the place of work, for example a nanny who needs to be available in case a child wakes up

Working time usually does not include:

• routine travel to and from work if the person has a set workplace
• rest breaks where no work is undertaken
• training that is not work related, for example a course the person has chosen to organise and do for themself

Maximum Weekly Hours

Employee’s must not work more than 48 hours a week on average.

This is usually averaged over 17 weeks, however specific industries may have other agreements – for example doctors and off-shore workers.

The 48-hour weekly limit applies unless the person:

• has ‘opted out’ of the maximum limit – this means they agree to work more hours and signed a Working Time Waiver
• does a job with exceptions under the law – this does not apply to domestic employees; they must sign an opt out

Employees can choose to opt back into the limit, by providing the required notice as stated in their working time waiver.

By law, employers do not have to offer a higher amount of pay than normal when someone works more hours because they’ve opted out.

Weekly Rest

Employees are entitled to weekly rest of 24 uninterrupted hours in a 7-day period, or 48 uninterrupted hours in a 14-day period.

Daily Rest

Rest breaks during shifts:

If an employee is expected to work for over six hours, then they are entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes.

Rest breaks between shifts:

Employees are entitled to 11 hours uninterrupted rest between working days, for example if they finish work at 8pm, their next shift shouldn’t begin until 7am the following day.

Holiday Entitlement

By law, workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ statutory paid holiday a year. Bank holidays can be included in this total. For someone who works irregular hours, entitlement can be calculated as 12.07% of hours worked.

To work out a fixed worker’s holiday entitlement in days, multiply the number of days they work each week by 5.6. If they work 5 days a week, their statutory paid holiday is 28 days a year (5 x 5.6).

Statutory paid holiday is limited to 28 days. For example, if someone works 6 days a week they’re still only entitled to 28 days of paid holiday.

Someone who works part time is still entitled to 5.6 weeks’ statutory paid holiday. The entitlement will be in proportion to the hours they work. This is because part-time workers cannot be treated less favourably than full-time workers. For example, if someone works 3 days a week, they’re entitled to 16.8 days of paid holiday a year (3 x 5.6).

If an employer gives full-time workers more paid holiday than the legal minimum, they must give part-time workers the equivalent pro rata amount based on the hours that they work.

Night Work

A night worker is someone who usually works at least 3 hours a day during ‘night time’. By law, night time is the period between 11pm and 6am, however the employer can agree a different period of time for night time as long as it is at least 7 hours long and includes the 5 hours between 12am and 5am.

Night workers must not work more than 48 hours a week or 8 hours in a 24-hour period on average. Workers cannot opt out of these limits, including for overtime.

Night workers are entitled to the same rest breaks and holidays as other workers.

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