Working Hours and Overtime in Guernsey

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Guernsey?

An employee whose age is 16 or younger has a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. An employee whose age is 17 or older is allowed to work 48 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 30 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 6 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 9:00 to 17:30.

Maximum Working Hours In Guernsey

Guernsey does not have a single codified maximum working week in primary legislation, but employers generally follow a 48-hour weekly ceiling aligned with UK and EU standards. You should treat 48 hours per week averaged over a reference period as the upper limit for full-time staff unless a shorter limit is agreed in the contract. Any pattern that regularly exceeds 48 hours exposes you to health and safety and unfair working practice risks.

Daily working hours are commonly capped by contract at 8–9 hours, excluding unpaid meal breaks, and you should avoid scheduling more than 12 hours in any one day except in genuine emergencies. Where longer shifts are necessary, you must ensure additional rest and that the average weekly hours still remain at or below 48 over the agreed reference period. You should keep written records of hours worked to demonstrate compliance if challenged by regulators or in an employment dispute.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In practice, these sectors often rely on longer shifts, split shifts, or rotating rosters to maintain 24/7 coverage while still aiming to average no more than 48 hours per week. You should document any non-standard patterns clearly in contracts and staff handbooks.

• Healthcare professionals may work 12-hour shifts with extended rest periods.
• Transport workers must comply with EU-aligned rest and driving limits.
• Manufacturing and security staff often rotate through night or weekend shifts.

Even in these sectors, you must ensure the average weekly limit is respected over a reference period. You should also conduct risk assessments for long or irregular hours and adjust staffing levels where fatigue could compromise safety or service quality.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managers and certain professional staff in Guernsey are often engaged on a “salaried” or “output-based” basis, with contracts that do not specify a strict daily schedule. Even where staff are described as exempt or managerial, you should still treat 48 hours per week on average as a reasonable upper boundary. Excessive hours for managers can still give rise to health and safety concerns and potential constructive dismissal claims.

Employment contracts for managerial staff should clearly state expected normal hours, any flexibility, and how additional hours are treated. You should avoid open-ended clauses that imply unlimited hours without compensation or time off in lieu, and instead define expectations such as “a normal working week of 40 hours, with occasional additional hours as reasonably required.”

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Guernsey

There is no single statutory definition of full-time working hours in Guernsey, but in practice full-time roles are typically set between 35 and 40 hours per week. Many employers use a standard pattern of 7.5 or 8 hours per day over five days, excluding an unpaid meal break. You should specify the normal weekly hours and working pattern in every contract.

Part-time and variable-hours employees can be engaged on fewer hours, provided minimum wage and rest rules are respected. When designing working patterns, ensure that no arrangement regularly exceeds an average of 48 hours per week over the chosen reference period, and that overtime arrangements are clearly documented.

Overtime Regulations In Guernsey

Overtime in Guernsey is primarily governed by contract rather than detailed statute, so your obligations arise from written terms, custom and practice, and general employment law. You must keep accurate records of hours worked to show when staff exceed their normal contractual hours and how you have compensated them. Failure to manage overtime transparently can lead to disputes over pay, breach of contract claims, and potential findings of unfair or constructive dismissal.

What Counts As Overtime In Guernsey?

In most Guernsey workplaces, overtime is any time worked beyond the employee’s normal contractual hours, for example above 37.5 or 40 hours per week. You should define in writing whether overtime is calculated daily, weekly, or over a reference period, and whether prior authorisation is required. Work performed on a scheduled rest day or outside the normal daily span of hours should also be treated as overtime for pay or time-off-in-lieu purposes.

Public holiday work is commonly treated as a special category of overtime, even though there is no separate statutory definition. Many employers pay at least 1.5x for public holiday hours or grant a full paid day off in lieu for each public holiday worked. Whatever approach you adopt, you must state the trigger points and rates clearly in contracts and policies.

Maximum Overtime In Guernsey

There is no separate statutory overtime cap in Guernsey beyond the general expectation that average weekly working time should not exceed 48 hours. Practically, this means that if an employee’s normal week is 40 hours, you should avoid scheduling more than 8 hours of overtime per week on a sustained basis, averaged over a reference period such as 17 weeks. Short peaks above 48 hours in a single week can be acceptable if offset by lower hours in other weeks.

If business needs require regular overtime, you should monitor that total hours do not consistently exceed 52–55 hours per week, as such levels may be considered unreasonable and unsafe. No statutory overtime cap applies on an annual basis, but you should use internal policies to limit overtime, for example capping overtime at 200–250 hours per year per employee and requiring senior approval once an employee exceeds 10 hours of overtime in any single week.

Overtime Payout Rates In Guernsey

Guernsey law does not prescribe a statutory overtime premium rate, so there is no mandatory 1.25x or 1.5x multiplier in legislation. In practice, many employers pay weekday overtime at 1.25x the basic hourly rate once employees exceed their contracted weekly hours, for example paying £12.50 per hour instead of £10.00. You may also agree to compensate overtime at the normal rate of 1.0x with equivalent time off in lieu, provided this is clearly documented and agreed.

For weekend work, it is common to pay at least 1.5x on Saturdays and 2.0x on Sundays, while public holiday work is often paid at 2.0x plus a substitute rest day. If you choose different numerical rates, such as 1.33x for Saturday and 1.75x for Sunday, you must state these explicitly in contracts and payroll rules. Whatever structure you adopt, ensure that no employee’s average hourly pay falls below the Guernsey minimum wage when overtime is taken into account.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Guernsey

Employees in Guernsey typically work around 7.5–8 hours per day and 35–40 hours per week, with an overall expectation that average weekly hours do not exceed 48. Rest periods and breaks are therefore essential to protect health and safety and to keep total working time within reasonable limits. You should design break and rest arrangements that fit your standard working patterns while remaining clearly documented and consistently applied.

• Meal Break: Although there is no detailed statutory schedule, most employers provide at least a 30-minute unpaid meal break when an employee works more than 6 hours in a day. For shifts longer than 9–10 hours, you should consider a 45–60 minute total meal break, which may be split into shorter periods.
• Daily Rest: You should aim to provide a minimum of 11 consecutive hours of rest between the end of one working day and the start of the next, mirroring EU-style standards. Shortening this rest period should only occur in genuine operational emergencies and should be offset with compensatory rest.
• Weekly Rest: Employees should normally receive at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week, and many employers provide 48 consecutive hours over Saturday and Sunday. If continuous operations require weekend work, you must schedule an alternative 24-hour rest period during the same week or immediately thereafter.
• Minors: Young workers under 18 should benefit from more generous breaks and rest periods than adults, such as a 30-minute break after 4.5 hours of work and longer daily rest. You should avoid scheduling minors on very early, late, or excessively long shifts, especially in safety-sensitive roles.
• Employer Duty: As an employer in Guernsey, you are responsible for ensuring that staff actually take their breaks and rest periods rather than working through them. You should implement rosters and supervision practices that make breaks practicable and recordable, particularly in high-pressure or customer-facing environments.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Guernsey

Night and weekend work are legal in Guernsey but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must consider fatigue, health and safety, and fair compensation when designing rosters that include late, night, or weekend hours. Clear policies and risk assessments are essential where operations run beyond the normal daytime working window.

Night work in Guernsey is commonly defined by employers as work performed between 22:00 and 06:00, although you may adopt a slightly different window if you state it clearly in contracts and policies. This definition is typically used to trigger night-work premiums, additional rest, or health monitoring for regular night workers. You should apply your chosen definition consistently across comparable roles to avoid discrimination risks.

• Premium Pay: There is no statutory night work premium in Guernsey, so the law does not mandate a specific percentage or multiplier. In practice, many employers pay a night premium of 1.25x–1.33x the basic hourly rate for hours worked between 22:00 and 06:00, and some safety-critical sectors pay 1.5x for core night hours.
• Health Monitoring: While not prescribed in detail by statute, regular night workers should be offered periodic health assessments, especially in sectors such as healthcare, security, and manufacturing. You should document any health surveillance programme and adjust duties or shift patterns if medical advice indicates that night work is unsuitable for a particular employee.
• Workplace Restrictions: You should avoid scheduling minors under 18 on night shifts, particularly between 22:00 and 06:00, except in carefully controlled training situations. Pregnant workers and new mothers should be removed from night work if a risk assessment or medical advice indicates any risk, and you should offer alternative day work or paid leave where reasonable.

Weekend work, including Sunday work, is permitted in Guernsey provided employees receive adequate weekly rest and fair compensation. Many employers pay at least 1.5x the basic rate for Saturday work and 2.0x for Sunday work, or provide a substitute rest day when staff work on their usual weekly rest day. You should set out your weekend premium structure numerically in contracts and ensure rosters allow at least one full 24-hour rest period each week.