On the scale of the Twenty-seven (data taken into account from 2020), this average is 40.7 hours. Although the Czechs therefore continue to post a higher total, their average is nevertheless characterized by a downward trend: around one hour over the past ten years. As a reminder, according to the Labor Code, the weekly working time in the Czech Republic is 40 hours per week (38.75 hours in case of work in two shifts and 37.5 hours in case of work in several shifts) .
For several years, unions have been calling more or less regularly and intensely for a reduction in working time. According to them, the Czechs spend more hours at work than, for example, employees in neighboring Germany (40.6 hours according to Eurostat). The eight-hour daily working day has been in effect in the Czech Republic for over a century. It was promulgated in 1918, shortly after the founding of the Czechoslovak state in 1918 by Czechoslovakia, which was then considered – as in many other fields – as a progressive state.
According to Eurostat, the average number of hours corresponds to the number of hours normally worked by the person. This figure includes overtime, paid or unpaid, normally performed by the person. It does not include the travel time between home and the workplace or the lunch break. A distinction is also made between full-time and part-time work.
If part-time work is taken into account (still underdeveloped in the Czech Republic), the average number of hours in the Czech Republic amounts to 39.9 hours per week, compared to 37 hours for the 27 as a whole.
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