How Many Hours Can Care Staff Work?

How many hours can care staff work? In the UK, a piece of legislation known as the Working Time Directive (WTD) is in place to ensure workers get enough break-time for the hours they work, and enough rest time in-between periods of work.

Care home staff are no exception, and are entitled to specific amounts of break and rest, as well as maximum hours worked. These rules also apply for agency workers. In this post, we’ll go over the rules you need to follow as an employer in the care sector.

What is considered working time?

As well as plain old time spent working, working time also covers:

• Job-related training
• Time spent travelling for the role – such as home care staff, who often have to visit multiple clients in different areas per day.
• Any time spent on-call at the workplace – even if the employee is asleep, such as care staff who are on-call during a sleep-in night shift.
• Any extra activities defined as “working time” by an employee’s contract.

Some common activities that aren’t considered working time include:

• Time on-call away from the workplace
• Breaks where no work takes place, such as lunch breaks.
• Commuting to and from the workplace, as well as travelling that takes place outside regular hours.
• Unpaid overtime.
• Holiday, paid or unpaid.

How many hours can care staff work per week?

Workers cannot be made to work over 48 hours per week, calculated on a rolling 17-week average period.

Employees can opt out of this by signing an additional contract with their employer, but this is the employee’s decision to make, and can be retracted at any time following a 7-day notice period.

How many hours can care staff work per day?

The Royal College of Nursing points out that, while 12-hour shifts are legal, they don’t recommend shifts longer than 11 hours.

There are no regulations in place to limit the number of hours worked per shift: as long as the weekly average is no greater than 48 hours, it’s legally possible for a carer to work for 48 hours straight and have the rest of the week off, provided they consented. Don’t do this though, the CQC won’t see the funny side when inspection comes around.

Of course, you have to take staff satisfaction and safeguarding concerns into consideration when considering how long you want your staff to work

How many hours can care staff work on night shifts?

Night-shift hours rules are the same as the rules governing days/weeks, except it is not possible for employees to opt out of this limit with their employer.

The night period is defined as 11:00pm to 6:00am.

What are the rules for breaks during a shift?

If an employee’s working time exceeds 6 hours, they are entitled to a break of at least 20 minutes. It must:

• Be uninterrupted.
• Take place away from the workstation, for example in a break room.
• Take place during working time, not at the start or end of the day. This also means it cannot overlap with daily rest.

These breaks do not necessary need to be paid, but it will improve staff morale if they are.

What are the rules for daily breaks between shifts?

Between shifts, workers are entitled to a minimum of 11 consecutive hours’ rest.

What are the rules for weekly rest breaks?

As well as the daily 11-hour break between shifts, employees are also entitled to a minimum of 24 hours’ uninterrupted rest for every 7 days they work. This is averaged over a 14-day period, during which employers must provide one 48-hour rest period, or two 24-hour periods.

Employees cannot opt out of this limit.

How many hours can care staff work if there’s an issue at the shift handover?

In the case of staff who were due to be relieved at the shift handover, but their relief hasn’t arrived, are allowed to remain at work because they have a duty of care to their patients/residents.

However, if they feel it is unsafe for them to continue due to fatigue or for any other reason, they should contact the Home manager (who should also be a registered nurse) to come in themselves, or arrange cover using a nursing agency.

Agency Cover Staff

If your Home needs temporary staff to meet the Working Time Directive’s stipulations, consider using Medilink Nursing!

We specialise in finding staff for last-minute situations, so we’re always worth a call if you find yourself in trouble at the handover. Our lines are manned between 6:00am and 10:30pm, and the number to call is 0113 877 6383. Make a note!

Summary: How many hours can care staff work?

Care staff can work up to an average of 48 hours per week, the average being calculated from a rolling 17-week period.

Then, they are entitled to an 11-hour rest in-between each shift they work, as well as 48 hours’ (or two periods of 24 hours’) uninterrupted rest every fortnight, on top of the 11-hour daily rest.

Finally, care staff are entitled to a minimum break of 20 minutes if they are working a shift of over 6 hours.