48-hour week


Regulation 4, WTR says that in general, a worker should work no more than 48 hours in a week, averaged over a reference period. This is normally 17 weeks, but is 26 weeks in the special cases listed in regulation 21. These include, for example, those working in security and surveillance, care services and at docks and airports. The reference period is 52 weeks in the offshore oil and gas sector, and can be extended to 52 weeks by collective or workforce agreement in other sectors. Employers cannot force workers to work more than these hours (Barber v RJB Mining [1999] IRLR 308).