Labor activity is an integral part of the life of each of us. Labor relations are strictly regulated by law in order to protect the rights of workers and employers. The law clearly defines the duration of working hours in order to protect the health of the employee, as well as provide the employee with the necessary time for self-development and professional development.
Working hours
How many hours per week can you work according to the Labor Code? The labor legislation of the Russian Federation and Ukraine determines the optimal length of a working week of forty hours, which are distributed during the week according to the work schedule. The working week can be five days, and then the working day will last 8 hours. If you work one day off per week, then your working day cannot be longer than seven hours. However, there are features of the organization of working time, provided that:
- your working day is not standardized;
- you work at night;
- You are working overtime;
- You work part-time;
- you need a shorter working day;
- you are interested in the features of the organization of working time of persons under the age of majority.
Abnormal work
So, we know that the working week does not exceed 40 hours. What is an irregular working day? How many maximum hours can I work per week? Yes, with an irregular working day, you may be involved in the labor process beyond the permissible number of working hours in the predominant number of cases. However, you must know:
- this situation cannot be constant;
- in the case of an irregular schedule, you are entitled to compensation in the form of additional leave;
- Your work is not paid in excess of the norm.
When can the irregular schedule apply to you personally? If you:
- enter into the number of technical and economic personnel, a management link;
- an employee whose work is not amenable to strict accounting by duration;
- an employee who allocates time at his discretion;
- Your working time is divided by the nature of the activity into fractions of indefinite duration.
Night work
There are other types of organization of working hours beyond the statutory eight hours. What should you remember if you have to work at night? Firstly, night work is determined solely by production necessity. If you work at night, then the duration of your working day should automatically be reduced by one hour, and you should also have the additional rest time.
Overtime work
However, in some cases, your working hours may exceed the usual 40-hour week. It's about overtime. Overtime is considered to be work beyond the length of the working day established by the current legislation. Such work is allowed in exceptional cases provided for by law and is usually associated with emergency situations. Overtime work can be arranged in the following cases:
- carrying out work ensuring the country's defense capability;
- the need to prevent disasters, accidents, as well as the speedy elimination of the consequences of emergency situations;
- carrying out public works on public utilities, transport, communications;
- the need to finish work, which, under the influence of various unforeseen circumstances or delays due to technical reasons not depending on the employee himself, could not be completed within the standard time, in the event that the termination of activity may cause damage to state or public property.
And you also need to know that work beyond the norm can be done only with the permission of the trade union of the enterprise and should not be more than four hours for two consecutive days for each employee and more than one hundred and twenty hours a year.
Part-time work
Sometimes labor activity at the main place of work does not bring the material remuneration necessary to solve pressing financial problems. The birth of a child, health problems among relatives, the desire to improve material conditions are just some of the reasons that force you to look for additional sources of income. The most common option is part-time work. How is this type of work regulated by law and how many hours per week can you work part-time?
According to normative documents, a part-time job should be considered as an employee performing, besides his main activity, other regularly paid work on the terms of an employment contract during a time free from his main labor activity. How are working hours of a part-time worker taken into account? The total duration of part-time work during a calendar month may not be more than the norm by half or a calendar month at the rate of forty hours during the week. As a result, the duration of part-time work cannot exceed twenty hours a week.
Half-holiday
In some cases, the usual working week is reduced, but this does not affect wages. For which categories of workers is a shorter working day allowed? How many hours per week can you work on a shorter working day? Part-time is allowed for:
- Workers employed in the so-called hazardous industries (the list of such positions is approved by law) - no more than thirty-six hours per week.
- For primary school teachers (first to fourth grades) - a maximum of four hours of teaching per day (twenty-four hours per week); here, however, it must be borne in mind that we are talking about teaching work, the time that the teacher spends working with the documentation is not taken into account.
- Teachers of secondary schools (middle and older age categories of students) - three hours a day (eighteen hours a week).
- Boarding teachers - five hours a day (thirty hours a week).
- Teachers and methodologists of DDU - six hours a day (no more than thirty-six hours during the week).
- Doctors and nurses in hospitals, clinics, maternity hospitals, dispensaries - a maximum of six and a half hours a day.
- Doctors of outpatient clinics and clinics, which are busy only with outpatient admissions of patients, dentists, prosthetists - five and a half hours during the day.
Features of the length of working time for persons under the age of majority will be discussed below.
Labor activity of minors
What you need to know if you are faced with the work of minors? Whether you are an employer or a parent, you will be primarily interested in how many hours a week minors can work. Persons not younger than fourteen years old may carry out labor activity. A separate length of working time is established for minors:
- persons from sixteen to eighteen years old - up to thirty-six hours during the week;
- persons from fifteen to sixteen years of age - up to twenty-six hours during the week;
- students between the ages of fourteen and fifteen who work during the holidays can work no more than twenty-four hours a week;
- youth under the age of majority may not be involved in overtime work.
It should be remembered that minors can only work with the permission of the medical board and when submitting the appropriate document.
Features of the work of women
Many are interested in how many hours a week can women work under the Labor Code? Women work normally during the forty-hour week, but in some cases exceptions are allowed. A woman has the full right to a shorter working day if she:
- pregnant
- brings up a child up to fourteen years old;
- is the mother of a disabled child in her care;
- takes care of a disabled or seriously ill family member (if there is a medical certificate).
In this case, wages are calculated according to the hours worked. In addition, the above categories of women should not be involved in work beyond the legal norm without their consent.
Thus, the length of the working day is strictly regulated by labor legislation, which determines the various options for working hours. You can choose the most suitable option for yourself.