Rest at work: 11 hours a day and 35 hours a week — your right

After you finish work, your employer must give you at least 11 hours of uninterrupted rest, and each week at least 35 hours of uninterrupted rest. These rules matter most for people on shifts, for example in warehouses or production, where schedules easily run one day into the next. Below we explain how to count them and what to do if your schedule ignores them.

Daily rest: 11 hours

An employee has the right to at least 11 hours of uninterrupted rest in every 24-hour period (art. 132 § 1 of the Labour Code (Kodeks pracy)). The 24-hour period is counted from the hour you start work.

Example: your shift ends at 22:00. The earliest you can start the next shift is 9:00 the next day. If the schedule set your start at 6:00, you would get only 8 hours of rest — too little.

The Labour Code allows shorter daily rest only in exceptional situations listed in art. 132 (for example a rescue operation). For shortened rest, the employer must give you equivalent rest at another time.

Weekly rest: 35 hours

Each week you are entitled to at least 35 hours of uninterrupted rest, which includes at least 11 hours of daily rest (art. 133 § 1). A week means 7 consecutive days counted from the first day of the settlement period (okres rozliczeniowy). Weekly rest should as a rule include Sunday, with exceptions for jobs and sectors that work on Sundays.

In practice: if you finish work on Saturday at 22:00, you can start again on Monday at 9:00 at the earliest, if that period is meant to fill your weekly limit. Working on Sunday does not remove the right to 35 hours of rest at another time.

Break during the day

Besides rest between working days, you have the right to a break during the day. If your daily working time is at least 6 hours, you are entitled to a break of at least 15 minutes, counted as working time (art. 134). A longer meal break set by the work regulations (regulamin pracy) may not count as working time if the regulations say so.

Rest and working-time limits

Rest is one of several rules that together limit working time:

• the norm is 8 hours a day and on average 40 hours a week in a settlement period of up to 4 months (art. 129 § 1),
• working time including overtime may not exceed an average of 48 hours a week in the settlement period (art. 131 § 1).

Longer shifts, for example 12 hours, are possible in some working-time systems, but the 11 hours of daily rest must still be kept.

What this means for you

If you are an employee:

• Check your schedule: there should be at least 11 hours between the end of one shift and the start of the next.
• Check that you have at least 35 hours off without a break every week.
• Write down your actual start and finish times. On request, your employer must show you the working-time record (ewidencja czasu pracy) (art. 149).
• If the schedule regularly leaves you without rest, first talk to your employer; then you can report the matter to the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP).
• If you work through a temporary work agency (agencja pracy tymczasowej), your employer is the agency, and the company where you work also organises your work day to day.

If you are an employer:

• Build schedules so the gap between shifts is at least 11 hours, including when employees swap shifts.
• Ensure every employee gets 35 hours of uninterrupted weekly rest.
• Failing to provide daily or weekly rest is an offence against employee rights (art. 281 point 5); check the current fine in the text of the Act.

Legal basis: Act of 26 June 1974 — Labour Code (Kodeks pracy) (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 1245), art. 129 § 1, 131 § 1, 132, 133, 134, 149, 281 point 5. Legal status as of 7 October 2026.