How many days is the working week in China? Working hours in different countries of the world

40 hour work week Kazakhstan inherited from Soviet Union. True, the workload there was a little greater, and working time was distributed a little differently: they worked 6 days, 7 hours each, that is, 42 hours a week. The five-day work week was introduced in the 1960s and labor time was reduced to 41 hours a week, then to 40. This is how the 5/2 schedule, 8 hours a day, familiar to all residents of the modern CIS, appeared. Modern Kazakhstanis live and work according to this system. Moreover, few pay extra for the fact that employees have to stay late.

While Kazakhstan lives by these standards, part-time work and flexible schedule. Work time countries cut down in different ways: either switch to a four-day work week, or reduce the working day. And the record holders for reducing working hours in the world are European countries.

In Holland The shortest working week in the world is only 29 hours. Dutch specialists are used to working 4 days a week. Both working mothers and working fathers take 3 days off in a row. Everyone is guaranteed a vacation and medical service. If the employee wants, he can reduce the number of working hours, while the wages will remain hourly. So the state takes care of the balance between personal life and work among its citizens.

In second place Denmark and 33 working hours per week. In all Scandinavian countries A flexible work schedule and 5 weeks of paid leave per year have been adopted. It is easy for employers to fire and hire new candidates, but the employees themselves are protected by law. Companies are required to pay compensation after dismissal for two years.

Followed by Norway with the same indicator - 33 working hours. IN northern country parents are allowed to reduce the number of their own working hours; almost a year after the birth of a child, the young mother receives a full salary, and annual leave is at least 21 days. Partial days are normal in this country; it is customary to go home from work no later than 16:00.

The European selection is diluted Australia- It is customary to work there 34 hours a week. The state guarantees Australian workers social protection no worse than in Europe: even those who work part-time have the right to full vacation and weekend benefits.

Germans all over the world are considered to be workaholics, but in fact in Germany work no more than 35 hours a week. Moreover, the working day is structured in an unusual way for us: it is divided into 2 parts. First, the Germans work from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., then have a 3-4 hour lunch break, and in the evening the workers return to spend about three more hours at the workplace. Due to the financial crisis in the country, they prefer not to fire employees, but to reduce working hours. At the same time, the state is trying to compensate workers for lost wages.

In Ireland also work an average of 35 hours a week. Although in the late 80s the Irish worked 44 hours, that is, much more than other Europeans. There are two reasons for the trend: the desire of some specialists to switch to shorter working hours, and the underdeveloped local labor market. To work hard and get enough, many have to leave for neighboring Great Britain.

The same 35 hours is the norm for the working week for Switzerland, but with completely different incomes. The average Swiss's working day begins at 8 am and lasts until 5:30 pm, with a long break for lunch with fondue and Swiss chocolate. In many areas, flexible working hours are considered the norm, when a person comes to work when he wants, but at the same time works the allotted time. A third of the working population switched to part-time work in order to spend more time with their families.

Kazakhstan inherited a 40-hour work week from the Soviet Union. True, the workload there was a little greater, and working time was distributed a little differently: they worked 6 days, 7 hours each, that is, 42 hours a week. The five-day work week was introduced in the 1960s and labor time was reduced to 41 hours a week, then to 40. This is how the 5/2 schedule, 8 hours a day, familiar to all residents of the modern CIS, appeared. Modern Kazakhstanis live and work according to this system. Moreover, few pay extra for the fact that employees have to stay late.

While Kazakhstan lives by these standards, part-time work and flexible work schedules are becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. Countries are reducing working hours in different ways: either switching to a four-day week, or shortening the working day. And the record holders for reducing working hours in the world are European countries.

In Holland The shortest working week in the world is only 29 hours. Dutch specialists are used to working 4 days a week. Both working mothers and working fathers take 3 days off in a row. Everyone is guaranteed vacation and medical care. If the employee wants, he can reduce the number of working hours, while the wages will remain hourly. This is how the state takes care of the balance between personal life and work among its citizens.

In second place Denmark and 33 working hours per week. All Scandinavian countries have adopted flexible work schedules and 5 weeks of paid leave per year. It is easy for employers to fire and hire new candidates, but the employees themselves are protected by law. Companies are required to pay compensation after dismissal for two years.

Followed by Norway with the same indicator - 33 working hours. In the northern country, parents are allowed to reduce the number of their own working hours; almost a year after the birth of a child, a young mother receives a full salary, and annual leave is at least 21 days. Partial days are normal in this country; it is customary to go home from work no later than 16:00.

The other day, several Russian officials immediately raised the issue of the length of the working day and working week, or rather. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Labor Minister Maxim Topilin predicted that the working day in Russia would be reduced to 4-6 hours in the future. The deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia was also there, who suggested that in the next 15 years, Friday in our country will become a day off. Adding all this up, in the most favorable scenario we can get a 4-day work week, the duration of which will be 14-24 hours. All this will become real thanks to labor automation and widespread use robots...

And even though all this is more reminiscent of the scenario of another, futuristic Russia, there are still trends in the world to reduce work time. And what is noteworthy in this matter is that the length of time spent at work is not at all interconnected with the final economic results of the country - most successful countries have a much shorter working week. Although this, however, is not always reflected in the actual time worked. Taking this into account, Careerist.ru decided to find out where in the world the law establishes the shortest working day and working week. The Netherlands unexpectedly became the winner.

1. Netherlands

This European kingdom suddenly became a country with the shortest working week - there it is only 27 hours, despite the fact that the average working day lasts about 7.5 hours. In the mid-00s, the Dutch were the first in the world to introduce a working week of less than 30 hours, and this did not have any negative effect on the economy. Many citizens of the kingdom work 4 weeks a week, and almost always these are young parents, but there are also examples when entire enterprises implement such a schedule. With all this, the Dutch occupy second to last place in the world in terms of the amount of time worked - only the Germans work less than them. Thus, according to OECD data, in 2015 in the Land of Tulips, on average, only about 1.4 thousand hours were worked (in Russia - 1.98 thousand hours).

Agree, it's impressive. But even such records do not stop the Dutch - they want to work even less. Those who decide to do this switch to hourly wage rates. There, an hour of work on average costs employers about $30...

2. Finland

The Finns are also doing well – their working week may be only 32 hours, although they work an average of 38 hours– such a working week is usually established employment contracts. It is also interesting that in Finland there are also maximum limits for the working week - no more than 40 hours. It is noteworthy that the Finns themselves are sure that they work the least in Europe – this data is provided by the Finnish Center economic research, citing Eurostat. Local analysts believe that short work hours have a negative impact on the economy and competitiveness of the state, although the average hourly payment labor at $33 casts doubt on such words.

3. France

The French are also far from the most important workaholics in the world; their working week officially lasts 35 hours. And strangely enough, trade unions continue to wage a long-term struggle to reduce it, and reduce the working day to 6 hours - this issue was even raised as part of the recent presidential election campaign there. And most importantly, this should not affect the 1.5 hour lunch break! The indicator of time worked per year is only 1.48 thousand hours. But at the same time, not all French people prefer to work 7 hours a day - at least 50% of workers work 1-2 hours more. More than a third of lawyers manage to work 55 hours a week! Why then are they fighting to shorten the working week? Overtime – here they are paid more generously than regular working hours.

4. Ireland

AND The Irish are not far behind the French - they work 35.3 hours a week. Although, unlike its neighbors in the rating, Ireland is frankly inferior to them in economic development, as, in fact, in the matter of implementation modern technologies. Interestingly, back in the 80s, the Irish worked much more than their territorial neighbors - local standards established a working week of 44 hours. Today they have been significantly reduced, but economic indicators have not increased as a result. Adding insult to injury is the low development of the local labor market, Brexit in 2016 and other problems that force the Irish to go to work in neighboring England. By the way, as in Finland, Irish legislation establishes a maximum working week, which since 1997 should not exceed 48 working hours. So the range is impressive.

5. Israel

Israel, despite all expectations, also occupies a good position in terms of the length of the working week - average is only 36.3 hours. The expert community says about Israelis that they work little, but do a lot. There is an opinion in the world that the citizens of Israel are hardworking people, although they themselves consider themselves a lazy nation. This is not to say that the Israelis do not have economic problems, but we need to make allowances for the frozen conflict in the country. By the way, officially average established norm 42 hours are considered, and only after them overtime begins to be counted.

6. Denmark

Denmark has not only the happiest pensioners, but also the happiest workers - their working week is 37.5 hours. But don't think that they work them out completely. Thus, many institutions also include a 30-minute lunch break during these hours, which reduces the amount of time worked to 35 hours. The average Dane spends about 7 hours and 20 minutes at work per day, but at the same time earns quite serious money even for Europe - a whopping 37.5 € per hour, which is a third more than the EU average. By the way, according to OECD data, the average hours worked are also quite low and incomparable with Russian ones - in 2015, the average Dane worked about 1.45 thousand hours.

7. Germany

The whole world is sure that the Germans are the most hardworking nation in the world, and the residents of Germany themselves are in no hurry to dispel this stereotype. Although statistical indicators indicate the opposite. Having legally established working week of 38 working hours, Germans work on average only 1.37 thousand hours per year, which allows them to occupy a leading position by working the least in the world (working the least number of hours in the world, to be more correct). In terms of a working week, that's just over 26 hours! But as everyone knows, due to high productivity, this does not at all affect economic indicators countries. At the same time, the minimum hourly rate is 8.5€, and the average is about 25€. Yes, one can only envy the productivity of the Germans.

8. Belgium

Recently they have been working 38 hours a week in Belgium too– the corresponding bill was adopted there in 2016. Installed and upper limits– Belgians can work a maximum of 45 hours a week. Although 38 hours is enough for them, the average hourly wage in the country exceeds 39 €, which allows them to be leaders in this indicator among the EU countries. The average working day is impressive - which for the average Belgian lasts only 7 hours and 7 minutes. By the way, the Belgians themselves admit that of this time they spend only 3 hours 47 minutes directly on performing functional duties. There are no problems with work either - Belgium has a developed labor market and broad legislative protection for workers. At the same time, many employers take care of their employees by introducing, for example, a 4-day work week. Like, a rested and happy employee is a productive employee.

9. Norway

Norwegian law defines a fixed working week, which is 39 working hours. Local statistics show that the average Norwegian spends 7 hours 31 minutes at work every day, and still manages to achieve one of the highest productivity levels in the world. Norwegian GDP per man-hour is replenished by $88 of domestic product - this is the second figure in the world after Luxembourg. According to the OECD, Norwegians did not work that much in 2015 - the average is 1.42 thousand hours per year.

It should be noted that countries with a working week that is shorter than 40 hours are rather an exception to the rule - most countries adopt just such a standard. But there are also many striking exceptions, where citizens work much more. For example, Japan, where locals work 50 hours a week. But even this is not as much as the hardworking Chinese, whose working week lasts 60 hours, working day - 10 hours, and average duration lunch break - 20 minutes... There is something to think about!

Today I decided to collect and publish data on how long it lasts working day, working week and working hours in different countries peace, and also analyze how much these indicators influence the level of economic development of countries. I was prompted to this idea by the so-called so-called revolution that recently ended in Russia. “New Year holidays”, during which many workers rested.

There are many others holidays, which are not celebrated in other countries, and I have more than once heard opinions that Russians rest too much, and they should, they say, work. After delving into the statistics, I came to the conclusion that this is all an absolute fallacy: in fact, Russians are among the people who work the hardest in the world! Well, the residents neighboring countries The CIS is also not far behind. And now more details...

There is one international organization Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which calculates and compares statistics in the most different areas. So, among other things, she keeps a tally of actual working hours worked (including official part-time jobs and overtime).

According to OECD data, in 2015 the average resident of Russia spent at work, attention, 1978 hours! This means that he worked 247 8-hour working days, that is, he worked all working days of the year according to the norm, without shortened days and without any vacation at all. And this is only according to official data! Is it worth mentioning how much people recycle unofficially?

According to this indicator, Russia took 6th place in the world in 2015. The top five countries where workers worked the most hours looked like this:

Mexico.
Costa Rica.
South Korea.
Greece.
Chile.

Please note: these are predominantly “middle-level” and “below-average” countries, not the most developed, but not the most backward. In general, it is not entirely clear why many Asian countries were not included in this TOP, where working a lot is considered good form, people basically do not rest and do not take vacations. Nevertheless, the report is just that. Do you know which countries, according to OECD data, had the shortest working hours?

Germany.
Netherlands.
Norway.
Denmark.
France.

In general, the entire top ten is occupied by European countries. For example, the working time of the average resident of Germany in 2015 was 1371 hours, which is a third less than in Russia! In fact, all European countries included in the top 10 countries with minimum working hours are at very high level development.

Where did such a difference between the hours worked by Russians and residents come from? Western Europe? There are 3 main reasons:

Shorter working hours and working weeks.
Longer holidays.
A more strict approach to overtime and work outside of school hours.

Moreover, interestingly, the length of the working day and working week does not have the most strong influence for actual working hours worked in a year. Because according to the results of the OECD study, it is clear that countries with approximately the same length of the working day and working week can take diametrically opposed positions in terms of the actual working time of the average worker.

Let's look at the length of the working day and working week in different countries of the world:

Netherlands– the minimum working week in the world. A working day is on average 7.5 hours, a working week is 27 hours.
France, Ireland– working week 35 hours.
Denmark– working day 7.3 hours, working week – 37.5 hours. It is noteworthy that the average hourly salary in Denmark is 30% higher than in the EU as a whole - 37.6 euros per hour.
Germany– working week 38 hours. Despite the fact that Germans are traditionally considered workaholics, annual working hours are the lowest in the world!
Russia Ukraine– working day 8 hours, working week – 40 hours. However, due to overtime (even official!) and short, often unobserved vacations, these countries are among the ten countries with the largest working hours per year.
USA– maximum working week – 40 hours. In fact, in the private sector, workers work an average of 34.6 hours per week.
Japan– working week 40 hours. Everyone has heard about the workaholism of the Japanese, however, the official working week there is no different from the Russian one. In this country, it is customary to stay unofficially at work to advance in career ladder, this does not appear in official statistics. In fact, the work week often lasts up to 50 hours.
Great Britain– working week – 43.7 hours.
Greece– working week – 43.7 hours, actual working time worked – the maximum in Europe.
Mexico, Thailand, India– working week up to 48 hours, six days.
China– average working day – 10 hours, average working week – 60 hours. The lunch break in China is 20 minutes, and the average vacation is 10 days.

In addition to the length of the working day and extracurricular work, the total working time worked is also influenced by the duration of vacation, in European countries ah, with this, too, things are better than in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the post-Soviet space.

For example, the average duration of paid leave in different countries of the world is:

Austria– 6 weeks of vacation (from 25 years old);
Finland– vacation up to 8 weeks (including “bonuses” up to 18 days for long service at one enterprise);
France– up to 9.5 weeks of vacation;
UK, Germany– 4 weeks vacation;
Average for Europe– 25 working days of vacation (5 weeks);
Russia– 4 weeks vacation (28 days);
Ukraine– 24 days of vacation;
USA- No legislative norms the duration of the vacation is at the discretion of the employer;
Japan– 18 days a year, taking a vacation is considered bad manners; on average, the Japanese take 8 days a year on vacation;
India– 12 days a year;
China– 11 days a year;
Mexico– 6 days a year;
Philippines– 5 days a year (minimum).

As for the “extended” New Year holidays, in Western countries they actually turn out even larger. Although there are not many official holidays there, in reality, already from December 20, business activity there is practically reduced to zero; from December 25, almost all enterprises close, and open from January 9-10.

In general, if we consider the trend, working hours in most countries of the world are gradually decreasing. In the early 1900s, residents of many countries devoted 3,000 hours to work annually (!), but now this figure on average around the world is 1,800 hours, and, in the most productive and economically developed countries he's even lower.

Back in 1930, economist John Keynes, author famous theory Keynesianism, predicted that in 100 years, in 2030, the working week will last an average of 15 hours. Of course, he was most likely mistaken in the numbers, but not in the trend: working hours have indeed been steadily declining since then.

If you analyze labor data provided by the OECD, you can clearly see that for a strong economy you need to work not hard, but efficiently. They also have such an indicator as productivity of working hours, so, for example, if we compare two European countries with maximum and minimum working hours - Greece and Germany, then in Germany productivity is 70% higher than in Greece. This example perfectly demonstrates the now popular expression: “you need to work not 12 hours a day, but with your head!”

Fans of workaholism often cite Asian countries as an example, for example, China, India, where working hours are very long, and these countries demonstrate high rates economic growth. I propose to look at Asia from a slightly different perspective.

It is in Asia that there is a special term “karoshi”, which means “death from overworking”. Because such cases are far from uncommon there: people literally die at their workplaces, since their body cannot withstand such a heavy load. For example, in Japan there is official statistics karoshi, and many believe that it is underestimated.

In general, I think that in terms of the length of the working day, working week and working time in general, we need to focus on Europe, not Asia. The economies of European countries demonstrate perfectly that labor productivity is much more important than hours worked. Here are just the most important advantages of a shorter working day and working week:

A person gets less tired at work, which means he can work more efficiently;
Limited working hours leave no room for so-called distractions. – the employee is fully involved in the work process;
The shorter the working time, the stronger man can concentrate on work;
The employee spends more time at home, with his family, with relatives and friends, devotes more time to his hobbies, relaxes, which means he has more energy and strength for work;
The person who works less has less problems with health, which means he again has more strength and energy to do the work.

Summarizing all of the above, I can conclude: you need to take a closer look at positive examples and maintain a course towards reducing the working day, working week, and working time in general. To begin with, at least eliminate constant overtime from practice. Because when - this, I assure you, will not lead to anything good, neither for employers nor for employees. Normal civilized labor Relations will definitely contribute to increased labor efficiency, and everyone will be better off.

In conclusion, for convincing purposes, I will cite personal example: I spend less than half my traditional working time working on this site. And it didn’t make him any worse, right? And achieved quite good results. That is, in order to, you don’t have to work a lot. Be sure to work efficiently!

Now you know what the working day, working week and working time are in the countries of the world, what results it brings, you see my conclusions and you can make your own. I hope that this information will be useful to you, perhaps making you look differently at things that seemed obvious.

Take care of your time - it is your limited and exhaustible resource. See you again at !

The Swiss bank UBS calculated the average number of working hours per week in largest cities peace. Paris took first place on the list, Moscow came third. How long is the working week in other countries - in the RIA Novosti selection.

France

The first two places on the list are occupied by Paris (30 hours 50 minutes) and Lyon (31 hours 22 minutes). The French are known for their love of long lunch breaks and strikes. When the government decided to implement labor reform this spring, the country's citizens protested. They opposed simplification of the dismissal procedure and permission to increase working day up to 12 hours (for a certain period). Transport and energy companies, gas and oil unloading terminals, Atom stations. Riots in the streets continue to this day.

Russia

Moscow was in third place in the list of cities with the shortest working week. Residents of the capital work only 31 hours and 40 minutes. At the same time, Russia is among the top countries with the longest paid vacations. On average, Russians can count on 30 days off, and that’s not counting public holidays(about two weeks a year).

Finland

Minimum and maximum amount working hours per week in Finland are enshrined in law - these are 32 and 40 hours, respectively. However, Helsinki ranks fourth in the list of cities with the shortest working week - it lasts 31.91 hours. The country also has a wide social program. Since the end of last year, the government has been actively discussing new project, according to which residents of Finland will receive 550 euros monthly in the form of unconditional income. They plan to pay the benefit to everyone - both working and unemployed citizens of the country. However, in return they will have to give up other government payments.

Great Britain

Londoners are some of the hardest working people in Europe. Their work week was 36 hours 23 minutes. The British holiday lasts 25 days. By the way, according to statistics from previous years, women in the UK work less than women in other countries.

USA

The working week in the USA is not much different from the European one. Americans work no more than 40 hours a week. During crises, some companies reduce the work week to 32 hours.

Greece

There are many jokes about the “hard work” of the Greeks, but in reality the residents of the country work no less than their neighbors. According to the Labor Code, the working week here lasts 42 hours - this is a high figure. However, labor did not save Greece from a serious economic crisis.

Israel

Officially, the working week in Israel is 45 hours, but trade unions have the right to demand a reduction in the amount of working time. Collective agreements are widespread in the country, which regulate working conditions for employees involved in a certain area of production. Since 2000, according to this agreement, the working week has been reduced to 43 hours. Weekends in the country fall on Friday and Saturday.