Breaks

Daily break or lunch break

The daily break (or the meal break) is at least half an hour and is primarily considered the employee’s own time. The employee has the right to leave their workplace freely during this time. Since the meal break is not counted as working time, no salary is paid for it. Therefore, the employee is not obligated to work during the meal break.

If you have to work during your lunch break, remember to mark it on the work schedule. This way, all the work done will be recorded.

If an employee does not actually have the opportunity to leave the workplace for a meal break, they have the right to a so-called quick meal break (15-20 minutes) and the meal break is then considered working time. The meal break is always considered working time if the employee is required to be on standby or reachable during the break, such as in shift work.

Daily rest breaks cannot be placed immediately at the beginning or end of a work shift.

Coffee break

Coffee breaks are agreed upon in collective agreements or by individual employers. Their duration is usually 10 minutes.

Daily rest

According to the law, an employee must be given a minimum uninterrupted rest period of 11 hours within the 24 hours following the start of each shift, which is called a daily rest period. Work may be performed during the daily rest period while on standby.

In shift work, it is possible to shorten the daily rest period to nine hours if work-related arrangements require it. Shortening the daily rest period should not be regular practice. If the daily rest period is shortened to nine hours, the missed rest time must be compensated during the next daily rest period or, if this is not possible, within 14 days at the latest.

Weekly rest

Weekly rest is a uninterrupted period of at least 35 hours of free time, preferably placed near Sundays. It can be arranged as an average of 35 hours of free time over a 14-day period. However, the rest period must still be at least 24 hours or the number of hours specified in the collective agreement per calendar week. If the weekly rest is 24 hours, the following week must have a minimum of 46 hours of weekly rest (i.e. the missed 11 hours must be given in addition to the regular 35 hours).

A weekly rest can be formed by any pre-determined uninterrupted break of at least 35 hours, for example a vacation, but not a sick leave.