Maximum hours allowed to work in a day UK (6 sources)
The Working Time Rules carries 6 published figures read from 11 sources' own pages, from 5.60 to 17 week, read 17 October 2026.
Weekrota sells its own paid plan in this category (our pricing). It is not counted here: every figure in this index is another provider's own published price, read from its own page.
11 of the 19 named sources read in full publish a figure; 8 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Read |
|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK: Maximum weekly working hours | 48hour | 2026-10-16 |
| Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 4 (maximum weekly working time) | 48hour | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement rights | 28day | 2026-10-12 |
| Acas: rest breaks | 24hour | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: calculating your working hours | 17week | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: Night working hours | 17week | 2026-10-17 |
| Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 4 (maximum weekly working time) | 17week | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: night working hours and limits | 17week | 2026-10-17 |
| Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 6 (length of night work) | 17week | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: Rest breaks at work | 11hour | 2026-10-17 |
| Acas: working time rules | 11hour | 2026-10-17 |
| Acas: rest breaks | 11hour | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: weekly maximum working hours and opting out | 7day | 2026-10-17 |
| GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement rights | 5.6week | 2026-10-12 |
| GOV.UK: weekly maximum working hours and opting out | 3month | 2026-10-17 |
The sentence each figure was read from (15)
- GOV.UK: Maximum weekly working hours, read 2026-10-16:
You cannot work more than 48 hours a week on average - normally averaged over 17 weeks.
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 4 (maximum weekly working time), read 2026-10-17:
4.—(1) [F1Unless his employer has first obtained the worker’s agreement in writing to perform such work], a worker’s working time, including overtime, in any reference period which is applicable in his case shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days.
- GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement rights, read 2026-10-12:
Most workers who work a 5-day week must receive at least 28 days’ paid annual leave a year.
- Acas: rest breaks, read 2026-10-17:
between working weeks – 24 hours every 7 working days or 48 hours every 14 working days
- GOV.UK: calculating your working hours, read 2026-10-17:
Average working hours are calculated over a ‘reference’ period, normally 17 weeks.
- GOV.UK: Night working hours, read 2026-10-17:
The average is usually calculated over 17 weeks, but it can be over a longer period of up to 52 weeks if the workers and the employer agree - for example, by collective agreement.
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 4 (maximum weekly working time), read 2026-10-17:
in any other case, any period of 17 weeks in the course of his employment.
- GOV.UK: night working hours and limits, read 2026-10-17:
The average is usually calculated over 17 weeks, but it can be over a longer period of up to 52 weeks if the workers and the employer agree - for example, by collective agreement.
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 6 (length of night work), read 2026-10-17:
in any other case, any period of 17 weeks in the course of his employment.
- GOV.UK: Rest breaks at work, read 2026-10-17:
Workers have the right to 11 hours rest between working days.
- Acas: working time rules, read 2026-10-17:
daily rest of 11 hours between working days weekly rest of 24 hours any 7-day period, or 48 hours in a 14-day period
- Acas: rest breaks, read 2026-10-17:
Rest between working days Workers must get at least 11 hours' uninterrupted rest between finishing work and starting work the next day.
- GOV.UK: weekly maximum working hours and opting out, read 2026-10-17:
You must give your employer at least 7 days’ notice.
- GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement rights, read 2026-10-12:
Almost all people classed as workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave).
- GOV.UK: weekly maximum working hours and opting out, read 2026-10-17:
You may have to give your employer up to 3 months’ notice depending on what’s in your agreement.
Read in full, publishes no figure
8 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- GOV.UK: child employment, minimum ages children can work, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- GOV.UK: zero hours contracts, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- GOV.UK: written statement of employment particulars, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 10 (daily rest), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 11 (weekly rest period), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 12 (rest breaks), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Acas: employment contracts, read 2026-09-19: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- the authority per rule, read 2026-10-02: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
11 of the 19 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 8 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in week (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 26 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per rule per worker class (adult, young worker, night worker, sector derogation): the limit, its averaging or reference period, whether it can be opted out of and how, and the regulation and guidance page it is quoted from with the date read; the rota checker's verdict is generated from this table, so a published rota is tested against the law rather than against an opinion; changed-since on every amendment
26 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (19)
- GOV.UK: Maximum weekly working hours(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: calculating your working hours(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: weekly maximum working hours and opting out(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: Rest breaks at work(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: Night working hours(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: night working hours and limits(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement rights(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: child employment, minimum ages children can work(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: zero hours contracts(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK: written statement of employment particulars(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 4 (maximum weekly working time)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 6 (length of night work)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 10 (daily rest)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 11 (weekly rest period)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 12 (rest breaks)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Acas: working time rules(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Acas: rest breaks(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Acas: employment contracts(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- the authority per rule(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The Working Time Rules carries 6 published figures read from 11 sources' own pages, from 5.60 to 17 week, read 17 October 2026.
11 of the 19 named sources read in full publish a figure; 8 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
Cite as: "Weekrota Working Time Rules", updated 2026-10-18, https://weekrota.com/datasets/working-time-rules/.
Download the CSV (15 rows, computed 2026-10-18)