Hours, rest breaks and the working week

Managing workers' hours

Managing workers' hours is a legal requirement of the Working Time Regulations. Doing it well brings many business benefits too. These include:

• improved forward planning
• increased efficiency and productivity
• reduced health and safety risks
• good employer-worker relations

Managing workers' hours means planning to ensure:

• no worker aged 18 or over works more than 48 hours in an average working week and no young worker works more than 40 hours a week
• all workers receive rest periods between working days to which they are entitled

See the pages in this guide on working hours in a week and rest periods between working days.

It's also good practice to:

• consider any busy periods coming up
• take into account any annual leave to which your workers are entitled - see our guide: know how much holiday to give your staff
• take into account any maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave - see our guide on maternity, paternity and adoption: an overview
• consult with workers about what hours they find most suitable
• give reasonable notice of any changes to working hours
• consider flexible working - see our guide to the benefits of flexible working

It's especially important you plan ahead if you're operating a shift system, particularly in a 24-hour business - see our guide on Sunday working and night working.

Where exceptions can be made

Workers aged 18 or over can agree, in writing, to a longer period than the normal 17 weeks over which to average their working hours and to opt out of the 48-hour maximum average working week - though they mustn't be forced to do so. You should consider the effect on the health and safety of your workers, workplace morale and efficiency of your business if you choose to ask your workers to do this.

For young workers there is no scope to opt out.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• The rules about hours of work
• Working hours in a week
• Rest breaks during the working day
• Rest periods between working days
• Managing workers' hours
• Check if special exemptions apply to your business

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