Minimum rest between work periods by country
Minimum rest guaranteed by law between consecutive work shifts. Germany and Austria require 11 hours; Canada specifies 8 hours; Spain mandates 12 hours; Norway guarantees 11 hours. Austria and Spain allow collective agreements to shorten rest in specific sectors or circumstances.
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 | Minimum hours rest | When counted | May be reduced? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 11 hours | Continuous rest between end of one day and start of next | Yes, by collective agreement (minimum 8 hours) |
| Canada | 8 hours | Consecutive hours between work periods or shifts | Only in emergencies (threat to life, health, safety or serious property damage) |
| Germany | 11 hours | Continuous daily rest after end of work | May be shortened to 10 hours in specific sectors (hospitals, gastronomy, transport, broadcasting, agriculture) |
| Spain | 12 hours | Between end of one working day and start of next | Must be respected in all cases; irregular distribution allowed within limits |
| Norway | 11 hours | Continuous rest within each 24-hour period between main work periods | May be reduced to 8 hours by collective agreement if compensatory rest is provided |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Arbeitszeitgesetz § 12
- Applies to all employees. The 11-hour minimum is mandatory unless a collective agreement specifically shortens it.
- Reductions below 10 hours are only allowed if the collective agreement includes additional measures for employee recovery.
- In hospitality, gastronomy and accommodation sectors, 8 hours is permitted for split-shift work (with mandatory compensation within 4 weeks).
Nach Beendigung der Tagesarbeitszeit ist den Arbeitnehmern eine ununterbrochene Ruhezeit von mindestens elf Stunden zu gewährenDer Kollektivvertrag kann die ununterbrochene Ruhezeit auf mindestens acht Stunden verkürzen Canada
- Rule
- Canada Labour Code R.S.C., 1985, c. L-2, s. 169.2
- Applies to employees in federally regulated industries under Canada Labour Code.
- Exception: employer may reduce rest if emergency prevents compliance and employee could not have reasonably been notified beforehand.
- Scope: Canada Labour Code federal sector only; provincial employment laws differ.
Every employee is entitled to and shall be granted a rest period of at least eight consecutive hours between work periods or shiftsDespite subsection (1), an employer may require that an employee work additional hours to their scheduled work periods or shifts which would result in them having a rest period of fewer than eight consecutive hours between their work periods or shifts if it is necessary for the employee to work in order to deal with a situation that the employer could not have reasonably foreseen Germany
- Rule
- Arbeitszeitgesetz § 5
- German federal law: applies nationwide to all employees.
- In excepted sectors (hospitals, food service, transport, broadcasting, agriculture), rest may be reduced to 10 hours if compensated within the same calendar month or 4-week period by extending another rest period to 12+ hours.
- Special provision: hospitals may offset shortfalls through on-call coverage instead, if not more than half the rest is interrupted.
Die Arbeitnehmer müssen nach Beendigung der täglichen Arbeitszeit eine ununterbrochene Ruhezeit von mindestens elf Stunden habenDie Dauer der Ruhezeit des Absatzes 1 kann in Krankenhäusern und anderen Einrichtungen zur Behandlung, Pflege und Betreuung von Personen, in Gaststätten und anderen Einrichtungen zur Bewirtung und Beherbergung, in Verkehrsbetrieben, beim Rundfunk sowie in der Landwirtschaft und in der Tierhaltung um bis zu eine Stunde verkürzt werden, wenn jede Verkürzung der Ruhezeit innerhalb eines Kalendermonats oder innerhalb von vier Wochen durch Verlängerung einer anderen Ruhezeit auf mindestens zwölf Stunden ausgeglichen wird Spain
- Rule
- Estatuto de los Trabajadores, art. 34, sec. 3
- Spanish law guarantees 12 hours minimum rest between working days.
- Applies when calculating daily maximum working hours (normally 9 hours per day unless collective agreement allows different distribution).
- Irregular distribution of working hours across the year is allowed but must respect the 12-hour rest minimum; workers get 5 days' notice of schedule changes.
Entre el final de una jornada y el comienzo de la siguiente mediarán, como mínimo, doce horasDicha distribución deberá respetar en todo caso los periodos mínimos de descanso diario y semanal previstos en la ley Norway
- Rule
- Arbeidsmiljøloven § 10-8
- Norwegian law guarantees 11 hours continuous daily rest (arbeidsfri) placed between main work periods.
- Collective agreements (by trade union) may permit shorter rest (minimum 8 hours per 24 hours) if equivalent compensatory rest periods are arranged.
- If compensatory rest is not feasible, other adequate protection measures must be agreed.
Arbeidstaker skal ha minst 11 timer sammenhengende arbeidsfri i løpet av 24 timer. Den arbeidsfrie perioden skal plasseres mellom to hovedarbeidsperioderArbeidsgiver og arbeidstakernes tillitsvalgte i virksomhet som er bundet av tariffavtale, kan skriftlig avtale unntak fra bestemmelsene i første og andre ledd. Slik avtale kan bare inngås dersom arbeidstaker sikres tilsvarende kompenserende hvileperioder eller, der dette ikke er mulig, annet passende vern. Det kan ikke avtales kortere arbeidsfri periode enn 8 timer i løpet av 24 timer Countries not in this table yet
Australia, France, Japan, and UK: the ingested statutes do not contain specific provisions setting a minimum number of hours of rest required between consecutive work periods. US federal law (FLSA) does not mandate minimum rest between shifts.
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, “Minimum rest between work periods by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/rest-between-shifts (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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