Breaks, rest and the 48-hour week
The four rules that decide most rotas, taken from the Working Time Regulations 1998 rather than from a summary of a summary.
The rest break — regulation 12
Once daily working time exceeds six hours, an adult worker is entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of not less than 20 minutes, and is entitled to spend it away from their workstation. A worker under 18 gets at least 30 minutes once they work more than four and a half hours, consecutive if possible, and hours worked for two or more employers are added together.
Note what "uninterrupted" excludes: twenty minutes split into four fives is not a rest break, and neither is a break spent answering the phone at the desk.
Daily rest — regulation 10
Eleven consecutive hours in each 24-hour period for adults; twelve for under-18s, which may be interrupted where the work is split over the day or is of short duration. This is the rule that a 23:00 close followed by an 08:00 open breaks — by an hour, every time, and nobody notices until someone counts.
Weekly rest — regulation 11
An uninterrupted rest period of not less than 24 hours in each seven-day period. The employer may instead give two 24-hour periods, or one 48-hour period, per fortnight. For under-18s it is 48 hours in each seven-day period, which may be reduced for technical or organisational reasons but never below 36 consecutive hours.
The 48-hour average — regulations 4 and 5
- Working time, including overtime, must not exceed an average of 48 hours per seven days, averaged over a 17-week reference period (regulation 4(1) and 4(3)).
- A worker may agree in writing to work beyond it. The agreement may run for a set period or indefinitely, and the worker can end it on not less than seven days’ written notice unless the agreement says otherwise — and any notice period agreed cannot exceed three months (regulation 5).
- The employer must keep up-to-date records of everyone who has opted out (regulation 4(2)).
- Annual leave, sick leave and maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave are excluded days in the averaging (regulation 4(6) and 4(7)).
- Under-18s cannot opt out and are not averaged: eight hours a day, 40 a week, full stop (regulation 5A).
How irot Time handles this
- The break prompt appears on the terminal before the six-hour point is passed, where it can still change what happens.
- The rota draft will not put a shift inside somebody’s eleven hours, and flags it if you place one by hand.
- The rolling average over the reference period is visible while you plan, not discovered at the end of it.
- Under-18s carry their own limits, so the daily and weekly caps are checked rather than averaged.
Where a limit is about to be broken, you see it in time to do something. That is the whole point — a compliance report next month tells you only which rule you already broke.
Questions we get
How long is the legal rest break?
Where daily working time exceeds six hours, an uninterrupted break of at least 20 minutes, which the worker may spend away from their workstation — regulation 12(1) and 12(3). For workers under 18 it is at least 30 minutes once they work more than four and a half hours, and it should be consecutive where possible (regulation 12(4)).
Does the break have to be paid?
The Working Time Regulations do not require it to be paid. Whether it is paid is a matter for the contract. What the regulations require is that the break is given, is uninterrupted and can be taken away from the workstation.
How much rest is there between shifts?
Eleven consecutive hours in each 24-hour period for adults (regulation 10(1)), and twelve for workers under 18 (regulation 10(2)). It is the rule that a late close followed by an early open usually breaks.
What are the limits for under-18s?
Regulation 5A: no more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, with hours for more than one employer added together. Plus 12 hours daily rest, 48 hours weekly rest and the 30-minute break. These are limits, not averages — there is no 17-week smoothing.
Sources, all retrieved 23 September 2026: Working Time Regulations 1998, regulations 4, 5, 5A, 9, 10, 11 and 12 (legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833), as amended by SI 1999/3372, SI 2002/3128 and SI 2023/1426.
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