Working time limits

WORKING TIME LIMITS

WORKING TIME LIMITS

Full-time work is set at forty (40) hours per week, which may be allocated in a five- or six-day working week.

 

✔ FIVE-DAY WORK:

  • When a five-day working week system is applied, the full contractual working hours amount to eight (8) hours per day.
  • Also, the employee may be employed five (5) additional hours per week at the discretion of the employer (overwork). These hours (41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th hour) are remunerated at the hourly rate paid increased by twenty percent (20%) and are not counted in the permissible overtime limits provided for by the relevant provisions (see below:150 hours per year).
  • Overtime is considered the work beyond 9 hours on a daily basis and beyond 45 hours on a weekly basis.
  • Legal overtime shall not exceed three (3) hours per day and one hundred and fifty (150) hours per year.
  • Employees are entitled for each hour of legal overtime remuneration equal to the hourly wage paid increased by forty percent (40%).
  • The implementation of the five-day work system provides for two days of weekly rest.
  • The employee's working hours are declared to “ERGANI” Information System. In case the existing working hours need to be modified (eg shifts) a change of schedule must be declared before its start.

 

✔SIX-DAY WORK:

  • When a six-day working week system is applied, the full-time working hours amount to six (6) hours and forty (40) minutes per day.
  • Also, the employee may be employed eight (8) additional hours per week at the discretion of the employer. These hours (from the 41st to the 48th hour) are paid with the hourly wage paid increased by twenty percent (20%) and are not counted in the permissible overtime limits provided for by the relevant provisions (see below:150 hours per year).
  • Overtime is considered the work beyond 8 hours on a daily basis and beyond 48 hours on a weekly basis.
  • Legal overtime shall not exceed three (3) hours per day and one hundred and fifty (150) hours per year.
  • Employees are entitled for each hour of legal overtime remuneration equal to the hourly wage paid increased by forty percent (40%).
  • The implementation of the six-day work system provides for weekly rest of one day.
  • The employee's working hours are declared to “ERGANI” Information System. In case the existing working hours need to be modified (eg shifts) a change of schedule must be declared before its start.

 

✔MAXIMUM WEEKLY WORKING TIME

The limits of overtime work (150 hours per year and 3 hours per day) are subject to compliance with the provision of article 6 of P.D. 88/1999, as in force, according to which the weekly working time of employees cannot exceed 48 hours on average in  a period of 4 months, including overtime and overwork.

 

✔LEGALIZATION OF OVERTIME

Overtime is legal only when registered by the employer in the ERGANI system, before it is carried out.

 

✔ILLEGAL OVERTIME

Overtime, which takes place without complying with the formalities provided for by the legislation (relevant declaration to ERGANI or 3 hours per day and 150 per year) and without compliance with the relevant approval procedures by the Ministry of Labour, is characterized as illegal overtime.

For each hour of illegal overtime, the employee is entitled to compensation equal to the paid hourly wage increased by 120%.

In cases of urgent work, which is deemed absolutely necessary and cannot be postponed, overtime can be permitted on a case-by-case basis in addition to the maximum overtime limits (150 hours per year) by decision of the competent authority of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. For the above overtime, the employees are entitled to a remuneration equal to the paid hourly wage increased by sixty percent (60%).

 

✔MINIMUM DAILY AND WEEKLY REST - MAXIMUM EMPLOYMENT LIMITS

The minimum rest of the employees, for each period of 24 hours, cannot be less than 11 hours.

There is also a minimum weekly rest period of 24 hours per week.

In case of implementation of a five-day weekly work system, the employees are entitled to two days of weekly rest.

 

✔REMUNERATION FOR WORK ON SUNDAYS

Employees who are employed on Sundays must be given additional remuneration, amounting to 75% of 1/25 of their legal monthly salary.

The distribution of weekly rest must be done in such a way that each period of seven weeks falls on a Sunday, unless the applicable work programs provide seven (7) rests on Sundays during the year, subject to more specific regulations.

 

✔NIGHTWORK:

Work provided at night and specifically between 22.00 in the evening and 6.00 in the morning is paid with the hourly wage which is increased by 25% on 1/25 of the legal salary.

 

✔BREAK:

When the daily working time exceeds four (4) consecutive hours, a break of at least fifteen (15) minutes and at most thirty (30) minutes is granted during which the employee has the right to leave the employment position.

This break is not working time and may not be granted continuously at the start or at the end of the daily work.

As break time is not considered as working time, the end of the daily work is extended according to the duration of the break, in order to complete the agreed work time.

 

✔SPLIT SHIFT:

Employees who work full-time but with a split shift for all or some days of the week, are entitled to rest, between sections of their working hours, which may not be less than three (3) hours.