How much time do you work in Poland?

working time in Poland

I guess every labour law legislation has a chapter dedicated to working time. So does Polish Labour Code.

Five-day workweek

The standard working time scheme is based on five working days in a week. Every week has seven days so two of them are free. First, it’s Sunday because it counts as a holiday/day off work by statute (with some exceptions, of course). Second, in planning the working time, the employer must provide for an additional day off work. It can be any day from Monday to Saturday. Usually it’s Saturday, though.

Standard working time

The standard working time in a five-day work week is maximum 8 hours a day and, on average, 40 hours a week, within a clearing period not exceeding 4 months, as adopted by a particular employer. This means that the number of working hours may be more or less than 40 in a particular week, but altogether during the clearing period the average weekly working time may not exceed 40 hours.

Read more:  Something unexpected happened? A day off on demand is the solution for you
The number of hours worked in a week, including overtime, may not exceed, on average,  48 hours during a clearing period adopted by a particular employer. Apart from the standard working time scheme, the Labour Code allows for several additional schemes the aim of which is to make working time schedules more flexible. For example, the employee may apply to the employer for an individual working time schedule or a shortened working week. In a shortened work week system the employee works less then 5 days a week, but longer than 8 hours (though no longer than 12 hours) a day, within a clearing period not exceeding 1 month.

Rest breaks

Employees are entitled to daily and weekly rest breaks.

Read more:  Termination of employment via a mutual agreement

Daily rest breaks last no less than 11 hours.

Weekly rest breaks last for a continuous time of 35 hours, including at least 11 hours of continuous rest in 24 hours. As a rule, weekly rest breaks should cover Sunday.

Employees whose daily working time amounts to at least 6 hours are entitled to a rest break of 15 minutes, which counts as working time.

Employers have the option to introduce an additional break of up to one hour per day, not counting as working time, for employees to have meals or deal with personal matters during work. Such breaks may be provided only via a collective labour agreement, internal working by-laws or the employment contract.

Read more:  Termination without notice by the employer due to the employee's fault
Employees working with computer displays are entitled to a 5-minute break every hour of work. The break counts as working time.

What kind of working time scheme are most common in your country? Drop me a work in the comments!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *