The working time regime is the distribution of work time during a certain calendar period. The regime may be the same for all employees of the company, may vary for different categories of employees. A distinction is made between the normal working hours, which are established for all or the main number of employees in the company, and special working hours, which differ from the usual working hours or the distribution of working hours. These include, for example, shift work or a rotating schedule. Today we will talk about the standard five-day work: how many hours a five-day work week lasts, how many days off employees are supposed to, etc.
- How many hours is a five-day work week?
The normal duration (norm of hours) of a five-day working week is 40 hours. This rate does not depend on the following factors:
- organizational and legal form of the company;
- working hours (for example, work in a flexible schedule or a standard five-day work week)
Since the number of working hours in a five-day working week is 40 hours, a standard working day is eight hours.
Weekend pay for a five-day work week
With a 5-day working week, employees have two days off per week, the generally accepted days off are Saturday and Sunday, rarely Sunday and Monday. In some cases, the employer may establish such a mode of operation at the enterprise when the generally accepted days off are working days. For example, when working in shifts, days off are set by the shift schedule and are "floating", that is, they can fall on different days of the week, taking into account the alternation of shifts. Sometimes there are such situations: the employee works according to the standard schedule of a five-day work week with two days off, but the employer needs the employee to go to work on his day off. For this, the following conditions must be met.
- in order for employees to go to work on their day off, the employer must have a legal basis;
- the consent of the employee, in writing, will be required (exceptions are provided);
- it is necessary to reckon with the opinion of the trade union (in some cases, established by law);
- a written order from the employer is required.
It should be borne in mind that the payment of "working" days off with a five-day working week will be increased, or you can compensate for them with a day of rest, additionally provided to the employee. However, in this case there are exceptions: they concern employees with whom an employment contract has been concluded for a period of up to 2 months. In this case, if you ask an employee to go to work on his day off, you can only compensate for his work in cash and at least double the amount.
Order on the transition to a five-day work week
If you want to increase or decrease the length of the working week, then you must follow the following procedure:
1. Issue an order to switch to a different mode of operation (five-day work week). The order must be in free form.
The order must specify:
- a list of positions, professions or individual employees for which a new mode of work is established, for example, a five-day work week;
- the procedure for introducing a five-day working week;
- a list of employees who are responsible for the introduction of a five-day work week;
- deadlines for the execution of orders.
Employees, if they switch to a new mode of operation, must be familiarized with the order.
An example of an order to switch to a five-day work week:
2. Establish a different duration of the working week (for example, five or six days) in the Internal Labor Regulations (collective agreement). Changes in the Internal Labor Regulations are formalized by order of the head of the enterprise or a person authorized by him, and in the collective agreement - by an additional agreement to it. With all the changes that have been made to the Internal Labor Regulations or with their new edition, all employees must be familiarized with their signature.
3. To reflect the transition to a different duration of the working week in labor contracts with employees to whom it is established by drawing up additional agreements to labor contracts.
The decision is still valid in all countries of the now former USSR. Prior to this, the working week had been six days since the 1920s.
“The shortening of the working week was in line with the economic reforms of the mid-60s, initiated by Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin, and had a propaganda effect, especially in the context of the political and ideological confrontation with China”
The joint resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions "On the transfer of workers and employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations to a five-day working week" was adopted in preparation for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. And it was signed on March 7 for a reason. Because it was addressed, first of all, to working women, because it freed up a whole day for household chores.
The issues of switching to a five-day week and, in general, reducing the time spent by workers and employees in production were first discussed in the country during the all-Union economic discussion of 1951-1952 and were mentioned in Stalin's last work, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR (1952). It was noted that with the successful development of the national economy in the country, conditions will appear for the working people to have more free time for recreation and cultural leisure. But…
Khrushchev's policy ruled out the implementation of such plans. Since the late 1950s, the socio-economic situation in the country has been deteriorating. The manifestations of this trend were, first of all, the growing imports of food and equipment, the confiscatory monetary reform of 1961, accompanied by an increase in prices for goods and services, coupled with their deficit, new taxes on subsidiary and personal farms. All this caused social tension and, as a result, led to mass unrest in Novocherkassk (1962) and a number of other regions in the last years of Khrushchev's rule.
The new leadership understood that some kind of “social outlet” was urgently needed, which would prove its desire to improve the quality of life in the country of victorious socialism. This was especially necessary, for obvious reasons, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. And also because in most socialist countries Saturdays were already days off.
The introduction of the five-day period was supplemented by the announcement of May 9 as a non-working holiday, the expansion of social benefits, and the gradual abolition of Khrushchev's agricultural taxes. As well as the resumption of circulation for the redemption of bonds of recovery loans of 1946-1958. Recall that almost all workers and employees of the country were subscribed to these loans. But in 1961, the repayment was stopped - as the then leadership stated, at the numerous requests of the workers.
In a broader context, the reduction of the working week fit into the economic reforms of the mid-1960s, initiated by Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin. It was he who, in 1965, on the basis of state planning analytics, proposed to the Politburo to positively resolve this issue. It was said that according to the State Planning Committee of the USSR, there is no shortage of labor and engineering personnel in most regions and industries in the near future. And the increase in wage funds and bonuses envisaged by the reforms will more than compensate the workers for the “loss” of one working day from their earnings. At the same time, Kosygin noted that the indicators of the country's socio-economic development in the 8th five-year plan (1966-1970), especially in terms of labor productivity growth, were much higher than in the previous period. This allows you to reduce the working week by one day without harming the economy. Brezhnev and the then head of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions Grishin were the first to support the prime minister's arguments and, accordingly, the draft of the aforementioned resolution.
It is worth mentioning the propaganda effect of this decision in the context of the political and ideological confrontation between Moscow and Beijing: in China and Albania that joined it (as well as in the DPRK, Cuba, Mongolia) at that time, even Sunday was rarely a day off.
Economic problems in the country began to worsen from about the mid-70s, after the Kosygin reforms were suspended. The West increasingly purchased Soviet energy carriers and other types of raw materials, which negatively affected both the pace and the quality of the development of the national economy. This combined led the USSR to 1991.
But all the countries of the ex-USSR owe the five-day working week precisely to the decision of the Soviet leadership of March 7, 1967.
Alexey Chichkin
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You can count the working week and the working day. This is the cumulative time that a worker spends at the workplace in a week or one day. These norms must be regulated by law on the basis of the production process and the natural needs of a person for recreation.
Different countries have their own labor standards and legislation in this area. Consider the most "hardworking" countries and those in which the minimum norms of the working week.
Working week in the Labor Code
Working time is the time that the worker spends performing his immediate job duties established by the employment contract. It is regulated by the order of a particular enterprise.
The working week in days calculates the time that a person must spend at his workplace. But there is another principle of calculation. The hourly working week shows the total number of working hours in a calendar week. These two concepts are most often used in everyday life.
- how many working days in a week;
- how many hours in each working day.
The product of these two indicators will give the desired figure, but if one of the days is shortened, for example, Saturday, then these shortened hours must be subtracted. For example, 5 days of 8 working hours would make up a standard 40-hour week.
The norms of the working week are prescribed in the law (Labor Code) and in employment contracts. So, in Art. 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation it is indicated that the working week should be no more than 40 hours. For those who are officially employed, under a collective labor agreement, this is the maximum number of working hours per week, which are paid at the regular rate. Overtime, namely over 40 working hours per week, must be paid at different rates.
How many working days in a week
The standard work week is five days. With this schedule, the days off are Saturday and Sunday. There is also a six-day work week with the only day off - Sunday.
A six-day week is introduced where a five-day week is not suitable for the specifics of the work or for the maximum load standards. Many firms work six days a week, especially in the service sector - Saturday is a fairly active day for the provision of services. Many factory workers and other workers who work five days a week apply for certain services on their day off - Saturday. Not only commercial, but also some government agencies work on a six-day schedule.
Some countries practice a 4-day work week. Such a proposal was also made in the State Duma, but did not find support, but only thundered in the news. In this case, the duration of the working days would be about 10 hours, compensating for the additional day off.
Obviously, the duration of the shift is determined by the norms of the length of the working week and the number of working days in it. If we start from the standard figure of 40 working hours per week, then the length of the working day will be:
- 5 days - 8 working hours a day;
- 6-day - 7 working hours a day, Saturday - 5 working hours.
These are general norms for the Russian Federation based on the current provisions of the law.
Calendar of working days for 2015
In 2015, one working hour more than in 2014. With a 5-day week at 40 hours, 2015 contains:
- working days - 247;
- shortened pre-holiday days (by 1 hour) - 5;
- weekends and non-working days - 118;
8 hours (working day with 5 days) * 247 - 5 (reduced hours) = 1971 hours
You can determine the number of working weeks in a year by dividing the received 1971 hours by the norm of 40 hours, we get 49 working weeks. There are special production calendars in which you can see which days of the week are working. 2015 as a whole is practically no different from the previous one.
Non-standard charts
It is necessary to take into account enterprises where work is carried out in 2, 3 and 4 shifts, the duration of which is different - 10, 12 and 24 hours each. The schedule is set by the employer, who is guided by the opinion of the trade union, as well as the conditions and specifics of the production process.
For example, some heavy industries often work in 3 shifts of 12 hours each, seven days a week. Then, for each employee, a different schedule of shifts and days off is determined, which do not coincide with the usual state holidays. However, the general norms of maximum working time must be observed, and overtime hours must be paid at an increased rate.
For those who work part-time, the working day is defined within 4 hours and the working week - within 16 hours. True, for cultural workers, doctors and teachers, the law provides for exceptions.
Norms for working hours are set both at the level of the Russian Federation and at local levels as part of the drafting of contracts, both collectively and individually.
Weekends and religious traditions
The norms of the working week in different countries are different, in some of them days off may not be those days that are considered as such in Russia. In European countries, the USA and most Asian countries, the weekend is Saturday and Sunday. But in Muslim countries - Friday and Saturday. The working week in this case begins on Sunday and lasts until Thursday - Egypt, Syria, Iraq, UAE. In Iran, for example, the work schedule starts on Saturday and ends on Thursday.
The main day off in Israel is Saturday, while Friday is a shortened day - you can only work until lunch.
This is due to religious traditions and the need to give people a day off to perform the necessary religious rites. The Christian Sunday tradition and the Jewish "Shabbat" form the basis of the official holiday. However, in most developed countries, this is a tradition that has been formed over many years and enshrined in law - an understandable and convenient schedule of working days.
Working schedules of other countries
After the collapse of the USSR, a 40-hour work week was established in almost all CIS countries. How is it in other countries of the world?
The European Parliament has set the maximum working time, including overtime hours, at 48 hours per week. In addition, some European countries have introduced their own regulatory restrictions. For example, Finland has set both a minimum work time of 32 hours per week and a maximum of 40 hours.
But the standard working week for most European countries is set at 35 working hours: Switzerland, France, Germany and Belgium. Private enterprises usually work more, but in production this norm is strictly observed.
Since the 40s of the XX century, the United States has introduced the norm of the working week - 40 hours. This is true for government employees, while in private firms this figure is 35 hours. This reduction in working hours is caused by the economic crisis.
Interestingly, in the Netherlands they gravitate towards a shorter working week and longer working hours. With a standard of 40 working hours per week, companies in the Netherlands are increasingly implementing a 4-day work week with a 10-hour working day.
Who works the most?
It's no secret that the most hardworking people are in China, where people work 10 hours a day. Considering that China has a six-day work week, this comes out to 60 working hours. A lunch break of just 20 minutes and a vacation of 10 days leave no doubt about the leadership of this country in industriousness.
You need to understand that the official working week and the actual data can be very different, and in any direction. In the CIS countries, especially in private enterprises, they tend to work more than 40 hours, while processing is not always paid.
In addition, with all the breaks and shortened days, workers in many countries are working less than the normative standard. The largest gap between official hours and actually worked hours is observed in the USA, Germany and France, where the working week actually has no more than 33–35 hours.
In the same France, for example, Friday is an official working day, but many make it so shortened that there is no one at the workplace after lunch.
But the British, known for their industriousness, usually linger at the workplace, so their week drags on to 42.5 hours.
Statistics on the working week in different countries
Given all of the above, it is only possible to determine, on average, how many hours per week are worked in the following countries:
- USA - 40;
- England - 42.5;
- France - 35-39;
- Germany, Italy - 40;
- Japan - 40-44 (according to some reports 50);
- Sweden - 40;
- Netherlands - 40;
- Belgium - 38;
- Russia, Ukraine, Belarus (and other CIS countries) - 40;
- China - 60.
Although in some sources you can find slightly different data. For example, Italy is named one of the countries where people work the least. It is probably impossible to fully generalize these statistics, but it is necessary to consider them from different angles: for private business, large enterprises, etc.
In most of these countries, a five-day work week, there can be a different number of hours in a working day.
4 days in Russia?
It turns out that not only in the Netherlands, but also in Russia, a working week of 4 days could be adopted. In 2014, the State Duma discussed the possibility of introducing a 4-day work week at the suggestion of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The ILO recommendations regarding the 4-day workday are based on the possibility of expanding the number of vacancies and jobs. Such a short week gives citizens the opportunity to relax more effectively and efficiently.
However, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation stated that such innovations are impossible for Russia, calling a 4-day work week a luxury. On the other hand, the plight of some citizens would force them to find a second job during these 3 days off, which would adversely affect their health and ability to work.
The request to amend the labor market committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) on the 60-hour working week came not from employers, but from work collectives, businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, who heads the committee, said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.
In most cases, human labor is measured by working time. Labor legislation most often uses such units of measurement as the working day (shift) and the working week.
A further reduction in working hours was provided for by the Law of the RSFSR of April 19, 1991 "On increasing social guarantees for workers." In accordance with this law, the length of working time of employees cannot exceed 40 hours per week.
The duration of daily work is 8 hours, 8 hours 12 minutes or 8 hours 15 minutes, and in jobs with harmful working conditions - 7 hours, 7 hours 12 minutes or 7 hours 15 minutes.
In April 2010, Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov proposed changing labor laws and introducing a 60-hour work week instead of a 40-hour one. In November 2010, the Bureau of the Board of the RSPP approved amendments to the Labor Code, which met with fierce resistance from the trade unions. However, later the document was to be sent for consideration by the Russian tripartite commission with the participation of employers, trade unions and the government.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Which of the readers heard from their ancestors (and did not read in a book) that until 1940 there was a working six-day period with fixed days of rest, falling on different days of the seven-day week? There are not many who. But in 1940 everyone knew this. This article is about what everyone forgot: about the regulation of working hours in the USSR ...
Under the damned tsarism
The tsarist regulation of working time applied, with some exceptions, only to industrial workers (and then the so-called qualified workers, that is, with the exception of the smallest enterprises) and miners.
The working day was limited to 11.5 hours, a standard seven-day work week was assumed with one day of rest on Sunday, while a 10-hour working day was provided before Sundays and holidays (the so-called eve days).
There were 13 holidays falling on any day of the week, in addition, 4 more holidays always fell on weekdays. There was no paid vacation. Thus, the average non-leap year had 52.14 Sundays, 4 holidays that always fall on weekdays, and another 11.14 holidays that did not fall on Sunday, for a total of 297.7 working days in a year.
Of these, 52.14 were Saturdays, and another 7.42 were created by mobile holidays that did not stick to Sunday. In total, 59.6 working days were short and 238.1 long, which gives us 3334 standard working hours per year.
In fact, in industry no one agreed to work so much, and the manufacturers understood that people would work more efficiently if they were given more time to rest.
On average, at the beginning of the First World War, factories worked 275–279 days a year, for 10–10.5 hours (different studies gave different results), which gives us approximately 2750 — 2930 hours per year.
Provisional government. Early Soviet Power: War Communism and the NEP
The provisional government from May 1917 fell into the hands of the socialists, who for decades promised the working people an eight-hour clock. The socialists did not change their course, that is, they continued to promise an eight-hour clock in an indefinite future, which (for the Provisional Government and the Socialist-Revolutionaries) never came.
All this was of little importance, for the industry was falling apart, and the workers were insolent and did not obey the authorities; by the end of the summer of 1917, in fact, no one worked more than 5-6 hours a day (well, the output was the same as if they worked 3-4 hours).
Already on October 29, 1917, the Bolsheviks fulfilled one of the main points of their pre-revolutionary program - they proclaimed an eight-hour working day by a special decree, that is, they got a seven-day week with one day off and an eight-hour working day. The Labor Code of 1918 further expanded these provisions.
Monthly paid leave was introduced; and between the end of the working day on Saturday and the beginning on Monday there should have been 42 hours, which, with one-shift work with a lunch break, gave a five-hour working day on Saturday; before the holidays, the working day was reduced to 6 hours.
The number of holidays was reduced to 6, all on a fixed date, these were New Year's Eve familiar to us, May 1 (International Day) and November 7 (Proletarian Revolution Day) and completely unfamiliar: January 22 (January 9, 1905 (sic!)), March 12 (the day of the overthrow of the autocracy), March 18 (the day of the Paris Commune).
With the calculation method shown above, in the average year, taking into account holidays and shortened days, 2112 hours came out, 37% less than according to the tsarist Charter on Industry, 25% less than in tsarist Russia, they actually worked. It was a big breakthrough, if not for one unpleasant circumstance: the real industry did not work at all, hard workers fled the cities and died of hunger. Against the backdrop of such events, one could write anything in the law, just to please the supporting class a little.
Since the people of that era were still strongly committed to religious holidays, but it was unpleasant for the Bolsheviks to mention this in the law, they were renamed special rest days, which was supposed to be 6 per year. Days were assigned to any dates at the discretion of local authorities; if these days turned out to be religious holidays (which invariably happened in reality), then they were not paid; therefore, we do not include additional holidays in our calculations.
In 1922, the industry began to slowly revive, and the Bolsheviks slowly came to their senses. According to the Labor Code of 1922, vacation was reduced to 14 days; if the vacation fell on holidays, it was not extended. This increased the annual norm of working hours to 2212 hours per year.
With these norms, humane enough for the era, the country lived through the entire NEP.
In 1927–28, May 1 and November 7 received a second additional day off, which reduced the working year to 2,198 hours.
By the way, the Bolsheviks did not stop there and promised the people more. Solemn anniversary "Manifesto to all workers, toiling peasants, Red Army soldiers of the USSR, to the proletarians of all countries and the oppressed peoples of the world" 1927 promised a transition to a seven-hour working day as soon as possible without reducing wages.
The Great Break and the First Five-Year Plans
In 1929, the Bolsheviks, against the background of the ongoing Great Break, were seized by a passion for exotic experiments with the regulation of working hours. In the 1929/30 fiscal year, the country began to be vigorously transferred to a continuous working week with one floating day off in the five-day period and a seven-hour working day (NPN).
It was the strangest timesheet reform imaginable. The connection between the seven-day week and the work schedule was completely interrupted. The year was divided into 72 five-day periods and 5 permanent holidays (January 22, now called V.I. Lenin's Day and January 9, two-day May 1, two-day November 7).
The day of the overthrow of the autocracy and the day of the Paris Commune were canceled and forgotten by the people forever. New Year became a working day, but remained in people's memory. Additional unpaid religious holidays have also been permanently cancelled.
Not a single day in the five-day period was a common day off, the workers were divided into five groups, for each of which the day off was one of the five days in turn. The working day became seven hours (it was promised earlier, but no one expected the seven hours to come along with such confusion).
The vacation was fixed as 12 working days, that is, it retained the duration. The minimum Sunday rest period has been reduced to 39 hours, i.e. eve days disappeared during one-shift operation. All this led to the fact that there were now 276 7-hour working days in a year, giving 1932 working hours per year.
Soviet calendar for 1930. Different days of the five-day week are highlighted in color, but the traditional seven-day weeks and the number of days in months have been preserved.
The five-day period was hated both among the people and at work. If the spouses had a rest day on different days of the five-day period, they could not meet each other on a day off.
At the same factories, accustomed to securing equipment for certain workers and teams, now there were 5 workers for 4 machines. On the one hand, the efficiency of using the equipment theoretically increased, but in practice there was also a loss of responsibility. All this led to the fact that the five-day period did not last long.
Since 1931, the country began to be transferred to a six-day working week with five fixed days of rest per month and a seven-hour working day. The connection between the working week and the seven-day period was still lost. In each month, days off were assigned on the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th (meaning that some weeks actually had seven days). January 22, the two-day May Day and the two-day November holidays still remained from the holidays.
With a six-day week, there were 288 working days of 7 hours a year, which gave 2016 working hours. The Bolsheviks acknowledged that the working day had been increased, but vowed to proportionally (by 4.3%) increase wages as well; in practice it didn't matter, since prices and wages rose very quickly in that era.
The six-day period was able to somewhat reduce the damn confusion with the time sheet and more or less (in fact, about half of the workers were transferred to it) took root. So, with a rather short nominal working day, the country lived through the first five years.
It must, of course, be understood that in reality the picture was not so joyful - the assault typical of the era was provided through continuous and long overtime work, which, from an unpleasant exception, gradually became the norm.
Mature Stalinism
In 1940, the era of relatively liberal labor law came to an end. The USSR was preparing to conquer Europe. Criminal penalties for tardiness, a ban on voluntary redundancy—of course, these measures would look strange without the accompanying increase in the workload.
June 26, 1940 transition to a seven-day work week. This appeal to all the working people of the USSR was made at the ninth plenary session of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. In addition to the seven-day period, during the plenum it was also proposed to introduce an eight-hour working day.
Since 1940, a seven-day week has been introduced with one day off and an eight-hour working day. There were 6 holidays, the day of the Stalin Constitution, December 5, was added to the old holidays. The shortened pre-holiday days that accompanied the seven-day period until 1929 did not appear.
Now there are 2,366 working hours a year, up 17% more than before. Unlike previous eras, the authorities did not apologize to the people about this and did not promise anything. With this simple and understandable calendar, which gave a historical maximum (for the USSR) of working time, the country lived until the complete death of Stalinism in 1956.
In 1947, against the backdrop of a general return to the national tradition, the holiday on January 22 was replaced by the New Year.
Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras
In 1956, having coped with the resistance of the elites, Khrushchev opened a new page - labor law was sharply softened again. Since 1956, the country has switched to a seven-day work week with one day off and a seven-hour workday; in practice, the transition took 3-4 years, but it was complete.
In addition to the seven-day period, the country received a new mitigation - all pre-weekend and pre-holiday days were reduced by two hours. Holidays remain the same. This led to a sharp reduction in working hours, the year was now 1963 working hours, 17% less. In 1966, March 8 and May 9, familiar to us, were added to the holidays, which reduced the working year to 1950 hours, that is, almost to the time of the half-forgotten five-day period.
And finally, in 1967, already under Brezhnev, the most fundamental of the reforms took place, which gave the form of the work schedule familiar to all of us today: a seven-day work week with two days off and an eight-hour work day was introduced.
Although the working week had 5 working days of 8 hours, its duration was 41 hours. This extra hour added up and formed 6–7 black (that is, workers) Saturdays hated by the people in a year; which days they fell on were decided by departments and local authorities.
The length of the working year has grown slightly and is now 2008 hours. But the people still liked the reform, two days off are much better than one.
In 1971, a new Labor Code was adopted, containing one pleasant innovation: vacation was increased to 15 working days. There were now 1968 working hours in a year. With this labor right, the Soviet Union reached its collapse.
For reference: today, thanks to the reduction of the working week to 40 hours, the increase in vacation to 20 working days, and holidays to 14 days, which always fall on weekends, we work 1819 hours on an average non-leap year.
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