Night shift workers' rights UK: hours, breaks and health

Staff who regularly work at least 3 hours during the night period are night workers. The night period is 11pm to 6am unless the worker and employer agree a different one. An agreed period must be in writing, must be 7 hours long and must include midnight to 5am. A collective agreement can also make staff night workers.

The test is about regular working patterns, not the job title or the shift name. Someone on a rotating pattern that regularly includes nights may be a night worker, while someone who covers an occasional late shift usually is not. Check actual rota and clock records rather than relying on how the shift is described.

The definition matters because the night work limit, health assessments and night-hours records apply to night workers specifically. Every worker, whether on days or nights, also has the general rest break, daily rest, weekly rest and 48-hour week rules.

Night workers must not work more than an average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period. The average is usually calculated over 17 weeks, and can be extended to up to 52 weeks if workers and employers agree, for example through a collective agreement. Regular overtime counts in the average, but occasional overtime does not.

Because the limit is an average across every 24-hour period in the reference period, rest days bring it down. That is why a pattern of 12-hour nights can be lawful for ordinary work: a night worker on 3 nights of 12 hours a week averages well under 8 hours per 24 hours. Workers cannot opt out of the night work limit, even if they have opted out of the 48-hour week.

Work involving special hazards or heavy mental or physical strain is different. Night workers doing that work cannot work longer than 8 hours in any 24-hour period, with no averaging. A risk assessment must be carried out to identify special hazards and work involving mental or physical strain. If the risk assessment flags a role, a 10 or 12-hour night is not allowed.

Some work is outside the night limits, or the limits can be changed. These include the armed forces and emergency services, domestic staff in a private house, people who can choose how long they work, jobs that need round-the-clock staffing such as hospital work, industries with busy peak periods such as agriculture, retail, tourism, security and surveillance, emergencies and accidents, and staff who travel a long distance or constantly work in different places. A collective or workforce agreement can also exclude or change the restriction.

Where an exception applies, the worker must get compensatory rest instead, with a minimum of 90 hours' rest per week on average. An exception is not a blanket permission to roster unlimited nights: check whether it applies to the particular role and record why.

Night workers get the same rest breaks as other workers. Anyone whose working day is more than 6 hours is entitled to one uninterrupted 20-minute rest break during it, and can spend it away from their workstation if they have one. The break does not have to be paid; that depends on the contract.

The law does not set a clock time for a night shift lunch break. It must fall during the working day, and the length and timing can be set by a collective or workforce agreement. The statutory minimum on a 12-hour night is still one 20-minute break, but many employers give more, and the contract may require it.

Employers should also give enough breaks where work is monotonous and puts health and safety at risk, which is relevant to long night shifts watching machinery or screens.

Workers are entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days, and either an uninterrupted 24 hours without any work each week or 48 hours each fortnight. There is no separate statutory rest period that applies only after a set of nights, so the 11-hour daily rest and the weekly rest are the legal minimums.

Changing a worker from nights to days is where problems usually appear. Someone who finishes a night at 7am cannot normally start their next working day before 6pm. Under regulation 22, the daily and weekly rest rules do not apply when a shift worker changes shift and cannot get the rest between shifts, but compensatory rest is then due. Compensatory rest is the same length as the rest, or the part of it, that was missed.

In practice, build a full rest day into any switch from nights to days, check that the weekly rest still fits the pattern, and keep a note of any compensatory rest given.

Employers must offer workers a free health assessment before they become a night worker, and regular assessments throughout their employment. How often depends on the worker's results. The worker can decline. The assessment can take different forms, such as a questionnaire written with input from a health professional.

If a health professional confirms that night working has affected a worker's health, the employer must find them other suitable work, where possible. Keep confidential records of the assessments for 2 years, and record the dates when assessments were offered to workers who declined.

Occupational health advice is a starting point for a decision about moving someone onto days or keeping them on nights. Where a worker has a disability, consider reasonable adjustments too, and talk to the worker before changing their pattern.

Staff aged 16 or 17 cannot work between midnight and 4am. They usually cannot work between 10pm and 6am either, although a contract can change this to 11pm to 7am. There are exceptions for agriculture, cultural, sporting, artistic or advertising work, hospitals, hotels and catering, retail, and post or newspaper delivery. In exceptional circumstances they can work at night if no adult can do the work, to handle a sudden increase in demand or keep a service running, and must then get a rest period of the same length as the extended shift. Under-18s also cannot work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Pregnant workers and new mothers can work nights if the work presents no risk to their health and safety or their child's. Where a risk assessment finds a night work hazard, or a doctor or midwife certifies that night work should be avoided, offer suitable alternative day work on the same terms and conditions. If that is not possible, suspend them on paid leave for as long as necessary.

Night workers have the same 5.6 weeks' paid holiday as day staff, capped at 28 days for statutory entitlement. What differs is how it is booked and paid. A night shift crosses midnight, so set one written rule for which date a night shift is booked against and apply it consistently in the leave system. Hours-based allowances often work better for long or irregular night patterns.

For the 4 weeks of leave under regulation 13, a week's pay must include payments intrinsically linked to the tasks the worker performs, payments for professional or personal status relating to length of service, and other payments, such as overtime, regularly paid in the 52 weeks before the leave. Check whether a regular night premium falls into these categories before paying holiday at the basic rate. Regular-hours workers must get at least 4 weeks at the normal rate; the remaining 1.6 weeks can be at the basic rate.

Keep records of night workers' hours that show the night work limit is being met, and keep them for at least 2 years. Health assessment records are confidential and are also kept for 2 years, along with the dates of any assessments offered and declined.

Useful records go beyond the minimum: shift start and finish times, which regular overtime was worked, the reference period used, any collective or workforce agreement relied on, the risk assessment for special hazards, and any compensatory rest given.