Under EU law the working week may not exceed 48 hours on average, overtime included. It is an average and not a ceiling for each week: the directive's own period for it is up to 4 months, and each country's law says over how long it is measured there.
The average working time for each seven-day period, overtime included, must not exceed 48 hours.1
A member state may set a reference period of up to 4 months for the average. Paid annual leave and sick leave are left out of the calculation or are neutral in it.2
Where the directive allows a departure from that period, it may not be longer than 6 months, or 12 months where a member state lets collective agreements set it for objective or technical reasons or reasons concerning the organisation of work.3
What the law of each of 31 countries says, taken from the reviewed record of that law. A country's name leads to its page, with the provision behind every figure. The list includes countries outside the EU (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), whose own laws set their figures.
| Country | What the country's law says |
|---|---|
| Austria | At most 48 hours a week on average over 17 weeks |
| Belgium | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| Bulgaria | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| Croatia | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Cyprus | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Czechia | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| Denmark | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Estonia | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Finland | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| France | At most 44 hours a week on average over 12 weeks |
| Germany | At most 48 hours a week on average over 24 weeks |
| Greece | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Hungary | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Iceland | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Ireland | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Italy | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Latvia | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| Lithuania | At most 48 hours a week on average over 13 weeks |
| Luxembourg | At most 48 hours a week, as a ceiling for each week |
| Malta | At most 48 hours a week on average over 17 weeks52 weeks in manufacturing and in tourism, travel and catering |
| Netherlands | At most 48 hours a week on average over 16 weeks |
| Norway | At most 48 hours a week with overtime; it may be taken as an average over 8 weeks |
| Poland | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Portugal | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Romania | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Slovakia | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Slovenia | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| Spain | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| Sweden | At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months |
| Switzerland | No single figure to give here: see the country's page |
| United Kingdom | At most 48 hours a week on average over 17 weeks |
As arithmetic, a week of 54 hours followed by a week of 42 averages 48. Whether the long week is allowed in itself depends on the other rules: the rest between shifts, the weekly rest and, in some countries, a ceiling for the single week.
The average moves slowly, so it is easiest to watch during the busy season rather than after it. Overtime counts.
Where the country's own law sets the weekly average, helloswap adds up a person's hours over the law's period and divides by the number of weeks; shifts on days of approved leave are not counted, and a shift that takes the average over the limit is not saved. Where the country's law sets its limits in another way, helloswap holds the directive's ceiling and gives a warning instead of stopping the shift.
A shift that is stopped cannot be forced through, whether a manager plans it, someone takes it from the swap board or it is part of a swap.
helloswap checks the shifts that are planned in it against these figures. The employer remains responsible for keeping to the law and to any collective agreement.
Type one person's week into the free rest-rule checker and see which rules it breaks, with the figures of the country you choose. It runs in your browser and needs no account.
The directive's limit is on the average, so one week may be longer if others are shorter. Other rules still limit the single week: the daily and weekly rest everywhere, and in some countries a weekly ceiling of their own.
Not under the directive: paid annual leave and sick leave are left out of the calculation or are neutral in it. National laws word this in their own way.
Only where the country has chosen that option. The directive lets a member state not apply the limit when the worker has first agreed, and no worker may suffer for refusing. Where a country's record shows this, its page says so.
The numbers in the text point to the provisions below. The links go to the official text.
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