working time

working time

the amount of time spent working for an employer. In the European Union this is regulated by the Working Time Directive and the Young Worker's Directive. In general this legislation restricts weekly hours of work to 48 but this may be averaged out over a period of time. Workers can also choose to work longer hours, and some groups of workers are excluded in both the Directive and national legislation implementing the Directive. The legislation also provides rights to rest periods and to a minimum of four weeks paid holiday each year.