What are my working hours rights in a nutshell?

Most adult workers have the following rights:

• the right to a break where the working day is longer than 6 hours
• a guaranteed rest period of 11 hours every working day
• a guaranteed rest period of 24 hours once in every 7 days (or 48 hours in every 14 days)
• a ceiling of 48 hours on the maximum average working week
• a ceiling on night work of an average of 8 hours in every 24
• a free health assessment for all night workers with a possibility to transfer to day work (where it is available) if working at night is damaging a worker's health
• the right to 5.6 weeks annual leave.

However, the law is unduly complicated and there are quite a few variations.

• The weekly limit on working time is an average. You can work more than 48 hours in a week as long as your average hours don’t exceed 48. The average is worked out in different ways for different groups of workers, and the workforce as a whole can agree to change the way it’s worked out.
• You can sign an individual opt-out and lose the protection of the weekly limit, but you can reverse your opt-out at any time and regain your rights. The notice period for this cannot be more than 3 months. There is no opt-out from the 48 hour average weekly limit on nightwork or any of the other provisions.