The working time regulations(1998)

This guide will help you understand the maximum hours that an adult employee can work and what rest breaks and rest periods must be offered.

The weekly maximum working hours

Employees aged 18 or over should not be made to work more than 48 hours a week on average. To calculate your member of staff’s hours as an average this should be calculated over a 17 week period. Members of staff can choose to work more than 48 hours in one week, as long as the average over 17 weeks is less than 48 hours per week.

Opting out of the 48 hour week

Employees can agree in writing to work longer than the 48 hour limit. The agreement to do this must be signed by the member of staff; this opt-out agreement can be cancelled whenever the member of staff wants to, giving the employer seven days notice of the cancellation.

Rest breaks during the working day

Members of staff are entitled to regular breaks during the working day. If they are aged 18 or over they should be offered a minimum 20-minute break for every working day lasting more than six hours; however this break must not be offered at the beginning or end of the working day.

Rest periods between working days

Daily Rest

Employees are entitled to rest periods between working days, these are in addition to any holiday entitlement. If aged 18 or over there should be a minimum 11 hours’ rest between each working day and should not be made to work more than six days in every seven, or twelve days in every fourteen.

Weekly Rest

An adult employee is entitled to either;

  • An uninterrupted 24 hours clear of work each week
  • An uninterrupted 48 hours clear each fortnight

Roles where special exemptions may apply

There are exemptions to the rules about working hours, rest breaks and rest periods if employees;

  • Carry out security or surveillance work
  • Carry out posts that require round the clock staffing

There are also exceptions to cover;

  • Exceptionally busy periods and/or emergencies

In all these cases you should average an employee’s hours over 26 weeks, rather than 17 weeks, to find their average working week.

These employees are entitled to accumulate their rest periods and take them at a later date, this is called compensatory rest.