Homepage > Employers > Employment Legislation > Working Time Directive

As an employer you may still have special responsibilities for a young worker who is 18 or above.

Employees 18 or over are not permitted:

• to work more then 13 hours in any one day and they should be given at least 2days off work a week
•  to work more than 48 hours a week. This can be averaged over a 17 week period. A person can agree to work more than 48 hours a week if this is put in writing.

As an employer you must:

• offer a free health check before an employee does any night work and must provide proper supervision
• allow at least a 20 minute break if your working day is at least 6 hours

Department of Health
You can download a summary of the legislation which governs the employment of children.