Working time consists of the time which the employee spends working or is obliged to be at the workplace or to be otherwise at the employer’s discretion. Travel time (commuting between home and the workplace) is not regarded as working time, unless it is an integral part of the employee’s duties.
The law on working time decrees that regular working time is a maximum of eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. However, in various fields of work regular weekly working time has been reduced by means of collective bargaining, for example to 37.5 hours per week.
The daily, weekly and monthly working hours may be flexible. However, the regular working time must level out to the number of hours stated both in the law on working time and in the collective agreement. The schedule for working time levelling must be drawn up in advance.