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Rest-rule checker

Type one person's week and see which working-time rules it breaks: the rest between shifts, the weekly rest, the daily and weekly maximum, breaks and the limits for staff under 18.

Free. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

One person's week

Monday8 hours
Tuesday8 hours
WednesdayOff
Thursday8 hours
Friday8 hours
Saturday8 hours
SundayOff

Leave a day empty for a day off. For a shift that ends after midnight, type the end time as it is, for example 22:00 to 06:00.

The result

5 shifts · 40 hours from start to end

1 thing to look at

  • Breaks a ruleMon → TueOnly 8 hours of rest between the shifts on Monday and Tuesday. The minimum is 11 hours.
  • Breaks a rule: helloswap refuses a shift like this.

What the week is measured against: Denmark

The figures of the law in Denmark that the week is measured against, as they were read in the legal texts.

Adults

  • At least 11 hours of rest between two shifts
  • 35 hours of rest in a row every week
  • At most 48 hours a week on average over 4 months

Under 18 (16 and 17 years)

  • At least 12 hours of rest between two shifts
  • At most 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week
  • No work between 22:00 and 06:00
  • 2 days off a week
  • A break of at least 30 minutes on a shift longer than 4.5 hours

What one week cannot show

  • The rest between this week's last shift and next week's first.
  • The rules that are averages over several months, such as the 48-hour week and the limit for night workers. The checker says when the week is over the figure, not whether the average is broken.
  • Collective agreements, sector exceptions and individual agreements.
  • The extra limits for children under 16 and for young people who still have compulsory schooling.

A guide, not legal advice

This is a guide to the statutory working-time rules as helloswap checks them. It is not legal advice. A collective agreement or a sector exception can set other figures, and where your workplace has one, that is what counts.

Questions

What is the 11-hour rule?

That a worker must have a period of rest between two working days. In Denmark helloswap checks for at least 11 hours between the end of one shift and the start of the next. Someone who closes at 23:00 can then start again at 10:00 at the earliest.

What is the weekly rest?

A longer rest once a week, on top of the daily one. In Denmark the checker looks for 35 hours in a row. If the week has no such gap between two shifts, it tells you.

Where do the rules come from?

From helloswap's own rule check, the same one that runs in the product when a shift is planned or swapped. Each of the 31 countries has a set of figures based on its working-time law. The figures for the country you choose are listed on this page.

We have a collective agreement. Does the checker know it?

No. The checker uses the statutory figures only. An agreement can change them, for example the length of the rest. In helloswap the figures can be changed to match an agreement on the Enterprise plan.

Is what I type saved?

No. The check runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to helloswap or stored.

Can I check the whole team at once?

Not here: the checker takes one person's week. In helloswap every shift for every person is checked as you plan, and a shift that breaks a rule is refused with the reason.

helloswap checks this for every shift as you plan

The same rules run when you put someone on a shift, when an employee takes one from the swap board and when you approve a swap. 14 days free, no card.

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