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Working time: the limits, the rest, and what an extra hour is worth
Working time: the limits, the rest, and what an extra hour is worth: this guide has a section for each rule: the daily and weekly maxima and the reference…
This launch guide maps the topic, the source base and the practical questions. Check the linked official authority before acting on a rule, deadline, price or safety requirement.
What this guide covers
This guide has a section for each rule: the daily and weekly maxima and the reference period, the eleven-hour daily rest and what legally breaks it, summed working time and how overtime is actually counted at the end of a period (with a worked example per rota), night and weekend supplements, on-call against standby pay, the stricter rules for under-18s and pregnant workers, and the health checks that attach to night work.
One focus is "Summed working time: how to count your own overtime at the end of the period, with a worked example" — a calculation the inspectorates describe in law and nobody demonstrates.
How to use it
Use Working time: the limits, the rest, and what an extra hour is worth as a map of the process: identify the situation, check which country or authority owns the rule, and confirm the current version before a deadline or application.
The page keeps the main question, its evidence base and its limits together in one canonical place. That makes it useful as a quick orientation and avoids splitting a broad subject into shallow pages before each narrower answer has enough verified material of its own.
Search vocabulary in four languages
Terminology changes across borders. These are example phrases people use for the same subject in Estonian, Finnish, Russian and English; they are included as a practical vocabulary aid, not as hidden keywords.
| Language | Example phrase |
|---|---|
| Estonian | summeeritud tööaeg ületunnid arvestus |
| Finnish | ylityökorvaus laskeminen esimerkki |
| Russian | оплата сверхурочных Эстония закон |
| English | minimum rest between shifts EU rule |
Evidence and provenance
The evidence map below records the primary, official or openly licensed material chosen for this guide. It is deliberately visible so a reader can tell the difference between a rule published by an authority, a measured dataset and an editorial explanation.
Source: Directive 2003/88/EC (EUR-Lex); Riigi Teataja (Töölepingu seadus) and Tööinspektsioon; Finlex (Työaikalaki) and Työsuojeluhallinto; the Latvian and Lithuanian labour codes on likumi.lv and e-tar.lt. · checked 2026-09-09
Source names are preserved even where an authority changes its web address. No figure is added to this launch page unless it is already present in the cited source description or can be computed from a named dataset.
Scope and boundaries
/drivers is the EU 561/2006 transport regime; /shift plans sleep around rotations. This is general working-time law and the pay it triggers.
Connected TempoLife guides
The following paths are the intentional hand-offs named in the brief. They keep adjacent subjects separate while making the next useful reference easy to find.
Why it belongs on TempoLife
/shift and /jobs.
Frequently asked questions
What does this guide cover?
This guide has a section for each rule: the daily and weekly maxima and the reference period, the eleven-hour daily rest and what legally breaks it, summed working time and how overtime is actually counted at the end of a period (with a worked example per rota), night and weekend supplements, on-call against standby pay, the stricter rules for under-18s and pregnant workers, and the health checks that attach to night work. One focus is "Summed working time: how to count your own overtime at the end of the period…
What evidence does it use?
Directive 2003/88/EC (EUR-Lex); Riigi Teataja (Töölepingu seadus) and Tööinspektsioon; Finlex (Työaikalaki) and Työsuojeluhallinto; the Latvian and Lithuanian labour codes on likumi.lv and e-tar.lt.
Where does this guide stop?
/drivers is the EU 561/2006 transport regime; /shift plans sleep around rotations. This is general working-time law and the pay it triggers.
Turn the reference into a routine
TempoLife brings food, movement, sleep and everyday health habits into one private place when you want to track what happens next.