Working hours and annual holiday

The Working Hours Act is a general act regulating working hours and it applies to both contractual and public-service employment relationships. There are also provisions on working hours in the

  • Young Workers’ Act,
  • Seamen’s Working Hours Act,
  • the Act on Working Hours on Vessels in Domestic Traffic and
  • the EU regulation on driving times and rest periods in road traffic.

The Working Hours Act contains provisions for instance on

  • regular working hours, additional work and overtime
  • general working hours
  • regular working hours based on an agreement between the employer and the employee
  • period-based work
  • regular working hours based on collective agreements
  • flexible working hours
  • flexitime
  • working hours bank
  • maximum working hours
  • night work
  • emergency work
  • daily rest periods
  • daily and weekly rest periods.

Provisions on the right of employees to annual holidays are contained in the Annual Holidays Act. The Annual Holidays Act applies to both private and public sector and it contains provisions on the

  • accrual of annual holiday,
  • pay during the annual holiday and
  • the granting of the annual holiday.

See also

Overview New Working Time Act in a nutshell

Labour law, brochures

Further information:

Guidance and supervision of  labour legislation: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha)
Law-drafting: Tarja Kröger, tarja.kroger(at)tem.fi

Related websites