How many hours are there in a week? About the working week

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

All employees who are concerned about their own rights in the workplace need to know how many hours per week the law allocates for work.

The concept of working time

Workers are those periods of time during which an employee performs his duties established by an employment contract. It is the responsibility of the employer to keep a record of the hours worked by each employee.

The start and end time of the working day, lunch and other breaks are set arbitrarily, but the total number of hours per week that an employee spends at the workplace is regulated by labor law. The time that an employee spends on the road does not apply to the worker.

In addition to the time actually worked, the work includes the time of military duty, jury duty or other actions provided for by the Labor Code.

How many hours are there in a week? The correct answer to the question depends on what is meant. There are 168 in a calendar week, but how many hours are there in a work week? The answer to this question will differ depending on the category of worker, becausethat in addition to normal, there are reduced and incomplete operating modes.

Normal working week

The maximum number of hours per week an employer can set for employees is 40 hours. This length of the working week is called normal and applies to most workers. Neither the form of ownership of the employer, nor its legal status can be the reason for changing this rule. The type of employment (permanent, temporary work) also does not play a role.

At the same time, the law provides for overtime work, which is calculated in the number of hours worked in excess of the prescribed forty. Overtime employees should receive increased pay.

If an employee is employed at several enterprises at once, then employers are not responsible for hours worked exceeding the bar of 40 hours, if the norm is not violated within the enterprises themselves.

For example, a hired employee Alexander works 40 hours a week in company A, and 10 hours part-time in company B. In total, he works 50 hours every week, but within both enterprises his working time does not exceed 40 hours, so the hours worked 10 hours on top will not count as overtime.

Another example: Elena works 45 hours at company A and 15 hours at company B. She works 5 hours at her first job, but at her second job, her working hours do not exceed the norm.

Working week can be 5 or 6 days, alsosliding mode is allowed. Ultimately, all that matters is how many hours a week was worked.

Duration of the shortened week

For minors, disabled people and some other categories of workers, a reduced schedule is provided. At the same time, minors receive payment in accordance with the output, and other categories of workers - the full rate.

The shortened week may have a different duration depending on the age, work capacity of the employee and working conditions:

• 12h - for students under 16;
• 24 hours - for other persons who are not yet sixteen;
• 17, 5 hours - for students who are already 16 but not yet 18;
• 35 h - for disabled people (1 and 2 gr.) and workers from 16 to 18 years old who do not study anywhere;
• 36 h - for teachers, educators and those who work in hazardous conditions;
• 39h - for doctors.

A shortened week differs from an incomplete one in that the payment is calculated as for a full week (with the exception of employees who are under 18 years old). With a shortened week, pay corresponds to output.

Incomplete week

Partial time can be set for any employee by mutual agreement with the employer. But there are cases in which the employer cannot refuse to approve the employee for part-time work. Examples: an employee has a minor child, is a minor himself, cares for a sick relative. bound to gotowards the pregnant woman.

You can agree on any amount of time within a standard week. Time can be reduced by reducing the number of working days, working hours in one day, or both.

Overtime worked will be treated as overtime, even if the total number of hours does not exceed 40.

How many hours work abroad

How many hours a week do those who officially got a job abroad work? In the vast majority of countries, the amount of time allocated for work is comparable to that in Russia. The standard week ranges from 35 hours in England and France to 48 hours in Germany, Italy, Ireland and many other countries. The relevant regulations are detailed in the laws of each country.

But how many hours a week can you work without losing productivity? Henry Ford once answered this question: exactly 40 hours