Under the UK Working Time Regulations, employers must keep adequate records to show that certain limits are being complied with. These are:

The weekly working time limit – employees should not work more than 48 hours in a week. The weekly limit on working time is based on an average, meaning that employees can work more than 48 hours in a week as long as their average hours don’t exceed 48.

Employers must keep records with the names of all workers (and keep them up to date) who have agreed to work more than 48 hours a week (the ’48 hour opt-out’). They need to be able to demonstrate at any moment that the working time, including overtime, for workers who have not opted out does not exceed an average of 48 hours for any seven-day period.

Some jobs have collective agreements and different working time rules which go beyond the national labour law.

Rest breaks at work

Workers have the right to one uninterrupted 20 minute rest break during their working day, if they work more than 6 hours a day. This could be a tea or lunch break. In some jobs a compensatory rest may apply. Find out more on the UK official information site.