Regulation of working time

Question 1

Ordinary Working hours

Answer 1

Employees may work a maximum of 45 hours per week.

For employees working 5 days or fewer per week, the maximum is 9 hours per day;

For more than 5 days, it is 8 hours per day.

Employees serving the public may extend their daily hours by up to 15 minutes per day, not exceeding 60 minutes per week, with agreement.

Question 2

Overtime

Answer 2

Overtime work must be agreed upon by both the employer and the employee. If such an agreement is made at the beginning of the employment or within the first three months of starting the job, it will automatically expire or lapse after one year from the date it was initially agreed upon. After this period, if overtime work is still required or desired, a new agreement must be reached between the employer and the employee to continue authorizing overtime hours.

Maximum of 12 hours per day (including ordinary hours), and 10 hours per week, extendable to 15 hours per week under collective agreement for up to two months annually.

Question 3

Compressed working week

Answer 3

Allows up to 12 hours per day (including meal intervals) without overtime pay, provided weekly hours do not exceed 45 ordinary hours or 10 hours overtime, over a maximum of 5 days per week.

This allows for employees to work a compressed working week, for example, only three or four days per week, but longer hours per day without forfeiting any pay or the employer having to incur the expense of paying overtime rates.

Question 4

Averaging of hours of work

Answer 4

Collective agreements can average ordinary and overtime hours over up to four months, not exceeding 45 ordinary hours and 5 overtime hours per week, reviewed annually for the first two years.

Question 5

Meals and intervals and rest periods

Answer 5

A meal interval of at least 1 hour after 5 continuous hours of work
The parties may by agreement reduce the meal interval to a 30-minute interval or, if an employee works fewer than six hours per day, dispense with the meal interval altogether (not enforced).

Question 6

Work on Sundays and public holidays

Answer 6

Sunday work pay: 1.5 times hourly rate if regular or double if occasional

Public holiday work pay: double the daily rate or ordinary rate plus pay for actual hours worked, whichever is greater.

Question 7

Night work

Answer 7

“Night work” is defined as work done between 18:00 and 06:00 the following morning.
The employer must pay the employee an allowance, which may be a shift allowance or which may take the form of reduced working hours.
Transportation must be available between the employee’s place of residence and the workplace

“Night work on a regular basis” is defined as work of more than one hour between 23:00 and 06:00 the following morning on at least five occasions per month or 50 occasions per year.
At the request of the employee, the employer must enable him to undergo a medical examination concerning those hazards or transfer the employee to suitable day work if he suffers from a health condition associated with the performance of night work.