Maximum hours in a working day by country
Most countries limit a working day to 8 or 9 hours. Japan and Canada set 8 hours as the daily maximum; Norway allows 9 hours; Spain and France permit 9-hour days (with Spain limiting minors to 8 hours) subject to daily rest periods.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Maximum hours per day | Minimum rest between shifts |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 8 hours per day | Not specified in section |
| Spain | 9 hours (8 for minors under 18) | 12 hours minimum between shifts |
| France | 10 hours (per French law / EU Directive) | 11 hours minimum between shifts |
| Japan | 8 hours per day (24-hour period) | Not specified in section |
Under review
The statute text for these countries has changed since we last checked it, so their figures are hidden until we review them again: Norway.
Country by country
Canada
- Rule
- Canada Labour Code, Part III, s. 169
- Applies to federally regulated industries only. Standard is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. Can be averaged over longer periods by regulation or collective agreement.
- Scope: Federal employment (transportation, banking, telecommunications, etc.). Provinces set their own daily limits.
the standard hours of work of an employee shall not exceed eight hours in a day and forty hours in a week Spain
- Rule
- Estatuto de los Trabajadores, art. 34
- Maximum ordinary working hours per day are 9 hours for adults, 8 hours for workers under 18. Minimum 12-hour rest period required between the end of one shift and start of next. Break of at least 15 minutes (30 for minors) required if daily work exceeds 6 hours (or 4.5 hours for minors).
El número de horas ordinarias de trabajo efectivo no podrá ser superior a nueve diariasLos trabajadores menores de dieciocho años no podrán realizar más de ocho horas diarias de trabajo efectivoEntre el final de una jornada y el comienzo de la siguiente mediarán, como mínimo, doce horas France
- Rule
- Code du travail, art. L3121-20, L3121-33, L3121-34
- Maximum weekly is 48 hours. Daily limits flow from weekly limits and collective agreements. Minimum 11-hour rest period between work periods (exceptions for certain sectors).
Au cours d'une même semaine, la durée maximale hebdomadaire de travail est de quarante-huit heures Japan
- Rule
- 労働基準法 (Labor Standards Act), § 32
- Employers must not require employees to work more than 8 hours per day (excluding breaks). This applies on a daily basis. Can be averaged over multiple weeks by collective agreement (§§ 32-2 to 32-5) to allow flexibility in distribution.
使用者は、一週間の各日については、労働者に、休憩時間を除き一日について八時間を超えて、労働させてはならない Countries not in this table yet
United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. Daily hour limits are set in working time regulations not ingested (UK Working Time Regulations, DE ArbZG expanded, AT Arbeitszeitgesetz). Australia and USA have no federal daily maximum; awards and collective agreements set these limits.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
Use this data
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit LawAsked and link to this page. Quoted statute text stays under the terms of its official source.
How to cite this page
LawAsked, “Maximum hours in a working day by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/maximum-daily-working-hours (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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