How Many Hours Is Full Time in the UK? Working Days, Weeks and the Limits
There's no legal definition of full time in the UK. In practice, full-time hours are usually 35 to 40 hours a week, and the most common full-time week is 37.5 hours: 7.5 hours a day, five days a week, with an unpaid lunch break on top.
So the real answer is "whatever your contracts say full time is". That number then decides a surprising amount: who counts as part-time, how much holiday everyone gets, what an hourly rate works out at, and when overtime starts. This guide covers the usual patterns, the legal limits, and the sums that follow from them.
The short answer
- Full time: no legal definition; usually 35–40 hours a week, most often 37.5.
- Working day: usually 7.5 or 8 hours, not counting unpaid lunch.
- Maximum: 48 hours a week on average, unless the worker opts out.
- Part time: fewer hours than a full-time colleague doing similar work.
- The ONS counts more than 30 paid hours a week as full time in its earnings statistics.
Common Full-Time Hours in the UK
| Typical day | Unpaid lunch | Hours a day | Hours a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9am to 5pm | 1 hour | 7 | 35 |
| 9am to 5:30pm | 1 hour | 7.5 | 37.5 |
| 8:30am to 5pm | 30 minutes | 8 | 40 |
| Four 10-hour days | Varies | 10 | 40 |
Offices tend to sit at 35 or 37.5 hours. Hospitality, retail, care, warehouses and construction more often work 40 hours or more, or shifts that vary week to week. For shift patterns, full time is usually defined as an average over the rota cycle: a 4-on-4-off pattern of 12-hour shifts averages 42 hours a week. Our shift pattern calculator works out the average for any pattern.
How Many Hours Is a Working Day?
Usually 7.5 or 8 hours of paid work, not counting an unpaid lunch break. For adults, the law doesn't cap the length of a day directly. It caps it indirectly:
- 11 hours' rest between working days, which leaves at most 13 hours in a working day.
- A 20-minute break in any day longer than 6 hours. Whether it's paid is up to the contract; see are breaks paid in the UK.
- Under-18s: no more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, a 30-minute break after 4.5 hours, and 12 hours' rest between days.
To add up a real day or week, start and finish times, minus breaks, the working hours calculator does it for you.
The Legal Maximum: 48 Hours a Week
Under the Working Time Regulations, nobody can be made to work more than 48 hours a week on average, normally measured over 17 weeks. A worker can choose to opt out in writing, and can cancel the opt-out with notice; you can't make it a condition of the job. Night workers have their own limit of 8 hours in 24 on average. Our Working Time Regulations guide has the detail.
Full Time vs Part Time
The law defines part time only by comparison: someone is part-time if they work fewer hours than a full-time colleague on a similar contract at the same employer. So 30 hours is part-time in an office where full time is 37.5, and the same 30 hours could be full time in a business that defines it that way.
Part-timers must get the same hourly rate as comparable full-timers, and holiday, sick pay and other benefits pro rata to their hours. Our guide to paying part-time employees works through the sums.
“The app is simple to use, reliable, and makes managing staff records straightforward. The system has saved us a significant amount of administration time.”
Jordan Ingoe, CLI ManchesterWhy Your Full-Time Number Matters
Once you've set full time at 37.5 or 40 hours, these figures follow from it:
| Figure | 37.5 hours | 40 hours |
|---|---|---|
| Hours a year (× 52) | 1,950 | 2,080 |
| Statutory holiday in hours (× 5.6) | 210 | 224 |
| Hourly rate on a £30,000 salary | £15.38 | £14.42 |
| Lowest legal salary at £12.71 an hour | £24,784.50 | £26,436.80 |
- Holiday. Full-timers working five days get 28 days (5.6 weeks); in hours, it's 5.6 times their weekly hours. Part-timers get the same 5.6 weeks pro rata; see holiday accrual for how it builds up.
- Hourly rate. Salary divided by yearly hours. The same £30,000 is nearly £1 an hour less on a 40-hour week. The hourly rate calculator does any salary.
- Minimum wage. A salaried full-timer must average at least the National Living Wage for the hours they actually work, so a longer week needs a higher salary.
- Overtime. There's no legal right to overtime pay at any number of hours. If your contracts pay a premium, it's normally for hours beyond the full-time week. See how to calculate overtime.
Putting Hours in the Contract
Every employee's written statement, given on or before their first day, must say their normal hours, which days they work, and whether those can vary. Write the full-time week down even if most people work shifts, so part-time pro rata, holiday and overtime all work from the same number. Changing someone's contracted hours later needs their agreement.
How TimeTally Helps
- Set your full-time day and week. Choose the length of a standard working day and a default working week for the business, then change it for anyone who works different days or hours.
- Overtime when it should start. Count overtime after a set number of hours a day, a week or a month, or after each person's own working pattern, at the multipliers you choose.
- Holiday worked out from their week. Part-timers' allowances and hours-based bookings follow their working pattern, so pro rata is right without a spreadsheet.
- Actual hours, not just contracted ones. Staff clock in on their phone or fill in a timesheet, and you see who's regularly over their hours.
One honest limit: overtime counts against one period at a time, so you choose daily or weekly, not both at once. TimeTally costs £3 per employee per month; see time tracking for more.
TimeTallyEveryone's Hours, Added Up for You
Set each person's working week once. Hours, overtime and holiday follow from it.
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Key Takeaways
- UK law doesn't define full time; 35 to 40 hours a week is normal, and 37.5 is the most common
- A working day is usually 7.5 or 8 hours, not counting unpaid lunch
- The legal maximum is 48 hours a week on average, unless the worker opts out
- Part-time means fewer hours than a comparable full-timer, with the same hourly rate and pro rata benefits
- Your full-time number sets holiday in hours, hourly rates, minimum wage checks and overtime
- Put normal hours and days in every written statement
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours is full time in the UK?
There's no legal definition. Most full-time jobs in the UK are 35 to 40 hours a week, with 37.5 hours (7.5 hours a day, five days a week) the most common. The ONS counts more than 30 paid hours a week as full time in its earnings figures.
How many hours is a working day in the UK?
Usually 7.5 or 8 hours, not counting an unpaid lunch break. A 9am to 5:30pm day with an hour's unpaid lunch is 7.5 hours. There's no legal maximum for adults, but they must get 11 hours' rest between working days.
Is 30 hours a week full time?
It depends on the employer. Legally, someone is part-time if they work fewer hours than a full-time colleague doing similar work, so 30 hours is part-time where the full-time week is 37.5. The ONS treats more than 30 hours as full time in its statistics.
What is the maximum number of hours you can work in a week in the UK?
48 hours a week on average, usually measured over 17 weeks, unless the worker has opted out in writing. Under-18s can work no more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, and can't opt out.
How many working hours are there in a year?
A 37.5-hour week is 1,950 hours a year (37.5 × 52), or 1,740 hours once 5.6 weeks of holiday are taken off. A 40-hour week is 2,080 hours, or 1,856 after holiday.
Do full-time employees get paid overtime after 40 hours?
Not by law. UK law doesn't require overtime pay at any number of hours, as long as average pay for all hours worked stays at or above the minimum wage. Overtime rates come from the contract.
Sources
- Part-time workers' rights — GOV.UK
- Maximum weekly working hours — GOV.UK
- Rest breaks at work — GOV.UK
- Earnings and working hours — Office for National Statistics
