As an employer, you should know how long your staff are legally allowed to work. Employment law governs the hours that employees are allowed to work per week, the rest breaks they are entitled to, and the periods of rest between working days. In addition, you must look after your staff\u2019s health and safety and provide a healthy work-life balance. Therefore, not applying these rules correctly could result in you facing an employment tribunal for constructive dismissal. This article will explain what you need to know about working hours in England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Employment law in the UK details how many hours a person can work. The limit is 48 hours per week, averaged out over 17 weeks. Since this is an average, in practice, your employee\u2019s hours may legally exceed 48 hours some weeks. Additionally, some weeks they will be under 48 hours. Where your employee has another job, the 48-hour maximum limit applies to the total hours worked for both jobs. Therefore, you should keep a written record of the hours your employee works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those under 18, the maximum weekly work hours are 40, equivalent to eight hours per day. The maximum hours for night workers<\/a> also differs from the 48 hours maximum week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A night worker does not have to work more than an average of 8 hours within 24 hours. However, there are no limits for young workers working night shifts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If you make your employee work more than the maximum amount of hours per week, you could be breaking the employment contract terms<\/a>. Breaching these terms could lead to a claim for constructive dismissal<\/a> at an employment tribunal. Those over 18 years of age may opt out of the maximum work hours per week but must do so in writing. Importantly, you should keep a record of this agreement. However, those working in the following industries are not allowed to opt out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, there are some areas of work where the maximum weekly working hours limit does not apply, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following table contains examples of what counts and does not count toward your employee\u2019s working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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What Counts Towards Working Hours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Included in working hours<\/strong><\/th> Not included in working hours<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Travelling on the job, which includes between home and work where a person does not have a fixed workplace<\/td> Travelling in non-working hours and travelling to and from work where your employee has a fixed place of work<\/td><\/tr> Training related to the job <\/td> Paid and unpaid holidays<\/td><\/tr> Business lunches<\/td> Break where no work is carried out, such as lunch break<\/td><\/tr> Time at the workplace on call<\/td> Time on call outside of the workplace<\/td><\/tr> Unpaid overtime you have asked your staff to do <\/td> Unpaid overtime which your staff have volunteered to do <\/td><\/tr> Time on business calls<\/td> <\/td><\/tr> Paid overtime<\/td> <\/td><\/tr> Working time overseas<\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\n