How do I check working hours, breaks and rest periods?
What would you like help with?
Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
Adult employees have statutory limits on shifts, weekly hours, breaks and rest. Paying overtime does not legalise an unsafe roster. Check the whole schedule, collective agreement and special rules for nights, young workers, pregnancy and your occupation.
On this page
- Which rules apply?
- How much daytime work is allowed?
- How much rest is required?
- What breaks apply?
- What changes for night work?
- How do I challenge an incorrect roster?
- How frequently may I work nights?
- Can I work only nights?
- Do the ordinary Working Hours Act rules apply to me?
- Does travelling to work or a client count?
- Where are the special sector rules?
- Must I work Sundays and receive extra pay?
- Documents to prepare
- Sources
1. Which rules apply?
This baseline covers adults under the ordinary Dutch Working Hours Act. Young workers, pregnancy, transport, attendance/on-call duties and certain professions have different rules. High earnings, volunteers and medical specialists also involve exceptions; high pay does not automatically remove protection for nights or dangerous work. Collective rules may vary only where legally allowed.
2. How much daytime work is allowed?
Normally at most twelve hours per shift and sixty in a week, but not sixty every week. Over four weeks the average is at most fifty-five, subject to permitted collective variation within the weekly cap; over sixteen weeks at most forty-eight. Record actual starts, finishes and hours. Employee agreement does not automatically remove limits.
3. How much rest is required?
Ordinary rest after work is eleven consecutive hours, reducible to eight once per seven days only if work requires it. Weekly rest is 36 consecutive hours per seven days, or 72 per fourteen days divided into periods of at least 32 hours. Check rolling periods, not just calendar days.
4. What breaks apply?
Over 5.5 hours requires thirty minutes' break, possibly two fifteen-minute breaks; over ten hours requires 45 minutes in portions of at least fifteen. Collective variation may allow at least fifteen after 5.5 hours. Only specific cases with written collective rules allow no break. Breaks interrupt work, not its start/end; payment depends on contract/collective rules, not automatically the Act.
5. What changes for night work?
More than one hour between 00:00 and 06:00 is night work. Normally at most ten hours; occasionally twelve, at most five times per fortnight and 22 yearly. Sixteen or more nights in sixteen weeks mean a forty-hour weekly average, otherwise 48. After finishing after 02:00, rest is fourteen hours, reduced to eight once weekly only if necessary; before 02:00 eleven. After three or more consecutive nights: 46 hours. Check frequency and sector exceptions separately.
6. How do I challenge an incorrect roster?
Keep rosters, actual hours and changes and ask which legal/collective exception applies. Discuss correction with employer/OR, seek occupational advice and report persistent violations to the Labour Authority. Immediate danger requires protection first. Separate pay claims from roster compliance. The checklist and letter do not automatically assess specialised sectors and send nothing.
7. How frequently may I work nights?
Normally at most 36 nights in sixteen weeks; permitted collective variation may allow more, up to 140 yearly. A sequence mixing night/day shifts is limited to seven consecutive shifts; eight needs necessary work/business circumstances and collective or written OR/PVT agreement. For work mainly at the edges of night, an alternative arrangement may allow at most 38 hours between 00:00 and 06:00 per two consecutive weeks. Count shifts and night hours; do not randomly combine the most favourable limits.
8. Can I work only nights?
Permanent night work normally requires a Labour Authority exemption based on proven exceptional social/private circumstances; personal preference or an employer's roster is insufficient. With exemption the limit is twenty night shifts per four consecutive weeks. A historic exception covers lawful exclusively nightly work already before 1 January 1996 where reorganising it is not reasonably possible. Check all conditions and the actual decision before starting; this guide grants no exemption.
9. Do the ordinary Working Hours Act rules apply to me?
General adult employee rules also cover interns, agency and seconded staff; add all jobs together. Genuine self-employed workers are usually outside, but not work under authority, transport, mining or diving. Earning at least three times minimum wage creates an exception, not automatically for nights, hazardous work or non-managerial mining. Volunteers aged18+ are usually outside; minors retain special limits. Other full or partial exceptions concern professional sports, research, family-home carers, performing arts, certain doctors/specialists, camp supervision and military deployment/exercises. Police/intelligence have specific operational exceptions; ecclesiastical spiritual offices an exception to Sunday rules. Assess the actual role, not merely a sector name.
Rijksoverheid — telt-woon-werkverkeer-als-werktijd ↗
Rijksoverheid — arbeidstijdenwet-en-zelfstandige ↗
Rijksoverheid — brochures-arbeidstijdenwet-en-arbeidstijdenbesluit ↗
Rijksoverheid — uitzonderingen ↗
Rijksoverheid — wat-staat-er-in-de-arbeidstijdenwet-over-mijn-werktijden ↗
10. Does travelling to work or a client count?
Ordinary commuting generally is not working time. Tasks performed on the employer’s instructions/under authority may change this: required colleague collection in a company van (driver, not automatically passenger), travel from the employer’s premises to another workplace, or from home to the first client. Record instructions, route, times and normal workplace; ask about contract/works-council arrangements. Professional drivers’ home-to-base travel is not driving time for the daily cap. Working time, driving time, wages and expenses are separate questions.
Rijksoverheid — telt-woon-werkverkeer-als-werktijd ↗
Rijksoverheid — arbeidstijdenwet-en-zelfstandige ↗
Rijksoverheid — brochures-arbeidstijdenwet-en-arbeidstijdenbesluit ↗
Rijksoverheid — uitzonderingen ↗
Rijksoverheid — wat-staat-er-in-de-arbeidstijdenwet-over-mijn-werktijden ↗
11. Where are the special sector rules?
The official source links brochures for the general Act, doctors/trainees, mining/diving and transport. Offshore wind-farm construction/maintenance has a comparable offshore arrangement. Transport covers road, inland waterways, sea/fishing, pilots and aviation. Other exceptions include fire services, hospitality, bakeries, cleaning, performing/audiovisual work, dredging, defence, live-in domestic staff, local rail, boarding schools for boatmen’s children, ice clearance, exhibitions/ship repair, volunteer police and storm-surge barriers. Many exceptions require collective agreement. Check the official sector rules alongside your cao; a brochure title does not prove that an exception fits your rota.
Rijksoverheid — telt-woon-werkverkeer-als-werktijd ↗
Rijksoverheid — arbeidstijdenwet-en-zelfstandige ↗
Rijksoverheid — brochures-arbeidstijdenwet-en-arbeidstijdenbesluit ↗
Rijksoverheid — uitzonderingen ↗
Rijksoverheid — wat-staat-er-in-de-arbeidstijdenwet-over-mijn-werktijden ↗
Draft request: How do I check working hours, breaks and rest periods?
Complete the facts and check the applicable rules. This draft sends nothing and is not legal approval.
Edit your draftWord
Your edits stay on this page and are not automatically saved or sent. Complete every placeholder.
Must I work Sundays and receive extra pay?
Sunday work depends on necessity and agreement. Business-circumstance scheduling requires collective arrangements and your consent. Normally at least thirteen Sundays yearly are free; fewer requires the applicable collective rule and consent. Extra Sunday pay is not automatic by law: check contract/collective agreement.
Documents to prepare
Prepare your next stepFill in and save · Word
Tick what you have checked or collected. Note what is missing and take your overview to a meeting.
Unless saved in My overview: Your entries stay only on this screen. Download before leaving; closing or reloading clears them. Do not enter identity numbers, passwords or unnecessary personal details.
What do you still need for your next step?
Item 1 / 6 · Where do you stand with this item?
Collective rules, role and exception
This overview follows your own answers. It does not assess your rights or guarantee that your file is complete.
Your choices stay here. Use the buttons below if you want to save or download.
View all details, notes and timeline
Your timeline and evidence
List events and contacts. Note where you keep the evidence; no upload is needed.
What goes in my timeline?
Record what happened, when, the response and where to find the letter, message or photo. Mark uncertain dates.
Is my evidence sent?
No. You only note where it is kept. No files are uploaded or sent automatically.
How do I save my timeline?
Your entries are not saved automatically. Choose Save and continue later to store this preparation, including your timeline, in My overview. Wait for confirmation and save new changes again. You can also download a Word file without an account.
Up to 20 events. Choose a different position for an event to change the order.
0 / 6 · Checked or collected
For each event, note the date, what happened and where the evidence is kept. Example: 3 October — letter received — correspondence folder.
Describe the solution you would like, such as an explanation of a deduction and repayment of the outstanding amount.
For example: which document is missing, who can provide it and what should I do first?
Record the date and its source. If unknown, note this and check promptly. This tool does not calculate or monitor deadlines.
After your conversation
These are your own notes. Confirm agreements with the other person; these notes do not prove their agreement.
This is your preparation, not a submitted request, objection or legally reviewed document. A tick records only your own progress. Check the procedure and deadline in the original letter.
Save and continue later
Clear entries
Download anything you want to keep first. Clearing cannot be undone.
- Collective rules, role and exception
- Roster and actual hours
- Shift and weekly totals
- Four-/sixteen-week averages
- Breaks, rest and nights
- Employer response and correction
Contact with a lawyer
You can use the chat and information without a phone number. A contact request requires a phone number, a verified email address and your wish for telephone contact. Our team assesses which partner fits your question. Data is shared only under the stated consent procedure. A partner or engagement is not guaranteed.
View the current application processSources
Need personal assistance? Request a lawyer through our chat. We explain the next step; submitting a request does not engage a lawyer. The links below support the legal information.
Rijksoverheid — uren en rust ↗Rijksoverheid — pauzes ↗Rijksoverheid — nachtdienst ↗Rijksoverheid — uitzonderingen ↗Rijksoverheid — zondag ↗Rijksoverheid — klacht ↗Rijksoverheid — frequentie nachtdienst ↗Rijksoverheid — permanente nachtarbeid ↗Rijksoverheid — telt-woon-werkverkeer-als-werktijd ↗Rijksoverheid — arbeidstijdenwet-en-zelfstandige ↗Rijksoverheid — brochures-arbeidstijdenwet-en-arbeidstijdenbesluit ↗Rijksoverheid — wat-staat-er-in-de-arbeidstijdenwet-over-mijn-werktijden ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.