Workweek and weekend

"Weekend" redirects here. For other uses, see Weekend (disambiguation).

The workweek and weekend are those complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal working week (British English), or workweek (U.S. English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to labour. In most of the Western world it is Monday to Friday; the weekend is a time period including Saturday and Sunday. A weekday is any day of the working week. As well as places of work, other institutions often follow the same days, such as places of education.

Some people extend the weekend to Friday nights as well. In some Christian traditions, Sunday is the "Lord's Day" and the day of rest and worship. Jewish Shabbat or Biblical Sabbath lasts from sunset on Friday to the fall of full darkness on Saturday, leading to a Friday–Saturday weekend in Israel. Some Muslim-majority countries historically had a Thursday–Friday or Friday–Saturday weekend; however, recently many such countries have shifted from Thursday–Friday to Friday–Saturday, or to Saturday–Sunday. The French Revolutionary Calendar had ten-day weeks (called décades) and allowed décadi, one out of the ten days, as a leisure day.

The present-day concept of the weekend first arose from the Jewish Sabbath. The Christian Sabbath was just one day each week, but the preceding day (the Jewish Sabbath) came to be taken as a holiday as well in the twentieth century. This shift has been accompanied by a reduction in the total number of hours worked per week, following changes in employer expectations. Proposals have continued to be put forward for further reductions in the number of days or hours worked per week, on the basis of predicted social and economic benefits.

History

In cultures with a six-day workweek, the day of rest derives from the culture's main religious tradition: Friday (Muslim), Saturday (Jewish and Seventh-day Adventist), and Sunday (most Christian). However, numerous countries have adopted a two-day weekend over the past several decades, i.e. either Thursday–Friday, Friday–Saturday, or Saturday–Sunday.

In 1908, the first five-day workweek in the United States was instituted by a New England cotton mill to afford Jewish workers the ability to adhere to the Sabbath.

In 1926, Henry Ford began shutting down his automotive factories for all of Saturday and Sunday.

In 1929, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Union was the first union to demand a five-day workweek and receive it.

After that, the rest of the United States slowly followed, but it was not until 1940, when a provision of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act mandating a maximum 40 hour workweek went into effect, that the two-day weekend was adopted nationwide.

Over the succeeding decades, particularly in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, an increasing number of countries adopted either a Friday–Saturday or Saturday–Sunday weekend to harmonize with international markets. A series of workweek reforms in the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s brought much of the Arab World in synchronization with the majority of countries around the world, in terms of working hours, the length of the workweek, and the days of the weekend.

Reform

Actual workweek lengths have been falling in the developed world. Every reduction of the length of the workweek has been accompanied by an increase in real per-capita income.

In the United States, the workweek length reduced slowly from before the Civil War to the turn of the 20th century. A rapid reduction took place from 1900 to 1920, especially between 1913 and 1919, when weekly hours fell by about eight percent. In 1926, Henry Ford standardized on a five-day workweek, instead of the prevalent six days, without reducing employees' pay. Hours worked stabilized at about 49 per week during the 1920s, and during the Great Depression fell below 40. During the Depression, President Herbert Hoover called for a reduction in work hours in lieu of layoffs. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established a five-day, 40-hour workweek for many workers. The proportion of people working very long weeks has since risen, and the full-time employment of women has increased dramatically.

The New Economics Foundation has recommended moving to a 21-hour standard workweek to address problems with unemployment, high carbon emissions, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, overworking, family care, and the general lack of free time. The Center for Economic and Policy Research states that reducing the length of the work week would slow climate change and have other environmental benefits.

Around the world

(Countries are listed alphabetically;Canada and some countries have Saturday a normal school day.some appear under the subsections for Muslim countries and the European Union.)Canada

Country	Typical Hours per Week	Working week	Typical hours worked (Maximum per day)
Afghanistan	40	Saturday–Thursday	8
Albania	40	Monday–Friday	8
Algeria	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Angola	40	Monday–Friday	8
Argentina	40	Monday–Friday	8
Armenia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Azerbaijan	40	Monday–Friday	8
Austria	38.5	Monday–Friday
Australia	38	Monday–Friday	7.6
Bahrain	40	Sunday–Thursday	9
Bangladesh	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Benin	40	Monday–Friday	8
Belgium	38	Monday–Friday	7.6
Brazil	44	Monday–Friday	8.5
Brunei Darussalam	40	Monday–Thursday and Saturday	8
Burundi	50	Monday–Friday	10
Bulgaria	40	Monday–Friday	8
Canada	40	Monday–Friday	8
Cameroon	50	Monday–Friday	10
Chile	40	Monday–Friday	8
China	40	Monday–Friday	8
Croatia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Colombia	48	Monday–Saturday	8
Costa Rica	48	Monday–Saturday	8
Czech Republic	40	Monday–Friday	8
Denmark	37	Monday–Friday	7.4
Djibouti	40	Saturday–Thursday	6.7
Egypt	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Ethiopia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Estonia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Equatorial Guinea	48	Monday–Saturday	8
Finland	38	Monday–Friday	8
France	35	Monday–Friday	7
Gabon	40	Monday–Friday	8
Gambia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Germany	40	Monday–Friday	8
Ghana	40	Monday–Friday	8
Hungary	40	Monday–Friday	8
Hong Kong	44	Monday–Saturday	8 (4 hours for Saturdays)
India	48	Monday–Saturday	8
Indonesia	40	Monday–Friday	8, many people work a 6-day week with 7-hour days.
Iran	44	Saturday–Thursday	7.36, and 6 hours Thursdays
Iraq	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Ireland	40	Monday–Friday	8
Israel	43	Sunday–Thursday	8.6
Italy	40	Monday–Friday	8
Ivory Coast	40	Monday–Friday	8
Japan	40	Monday–Friday	8
Jordan	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Kazakhstan	40	Monday–Friday	8
Kuwait	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Kenya	40	Monday–Friday	8
Laos	40	Monday–Friday	8
Latvia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Lebanon	40	Monday–Friday	8
Libya	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Madagascar	40	Monday–Friday	8
Maldives	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Malawi	40	Monday–Friday	8
Mali	40	Monday–Friday	8
Malta	40	Monday–Friday	8
Mauritania	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Malaysia	40	Sunday–Thursday (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu) Monday–Friday (Except: Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu)	8
Mexico	48	Monday–Saturday	8
Mongolia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Morocco	35	Monday–Friday	8
Mozambique	40	Monday–Friday	8
Nepal	48	Sunday–Friday	8
Netherlands	40	Monday–Friday	8
New Zealand	40	Monday–Friday	8
Nigeria	40	Monday–Friday	8
North Korea	54	Monday–Saturday	9
Oman	40 (30 during Ramadan)	Sunday–Thursday	8 (6 during Ramadan)
Pakistan	54	Monday–Saturday	9
Palestine	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Philippines	40	Monday–Friday	9 (including 1 hour lunch break)
Poland	40	Monday–Friday	8
Portugal	40	Monday–Friday	8
Qatar	40	Sunday–Thursday	8 (48 hours a week for line staff (they work on Saturdays))
Romania	40	Monday–Friday	8
Russia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Rwanda	40	Monday–Friday	8
Saudi Arabia	40 (30 during Ramadan)	Sunday–Thursday	8 (6 during Ramadan)
Senegal	40	Monday–Friday	8
Singapore	40	Monday–Friday	8
Slovakia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Spain	40	Monday–Friday	8
South Africa	45	Monday–Friday	9
South Korea	40	Monday–Friday	8
Sudan	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Sweden	40	Monday–Friday	8
Switzerland	42	Monday–Friday	8.4
Syria	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Seychelles	40	Monday–Friday	8
Taiwan	40	Monday–Friday	8
Tanzania	40	Monday–Friday	9
Togo	40	Monday–Friday	8
Thailand	40	Monday–Friday	8
Tunisia	40	Monday–Friday	8
Turkey	45	Monday–Friday	9
Ukraine	40	Monday–Friday	8
United Arab Emirates	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
United Kingdom	40	Monday–Friday	8
United States	40	Monday–Friday	8
Uganda	48	Monday–Saturday	8
Vietnam	40	Monday–Saturday	8
Yemen	40	Sunday–Thursday	8
Zaire	40	Monday–Friday	8
Zambia	40	Monday–Friday	8

Australia

In Australia the working week begins on Monday and terminates on Friday. An eight-hour working day is the norm. Working three weekdays a fortnight, for example, would therefore be approximately twenty-four hours (including or excluding traditional breaks tallying up to two hours). Some people work overtime with extra pay on offer for those that do, especially for weekend work. Shops open seven days a week in most states with opening hours from 9am to 5.30pm on weekdays, with some states having two "late night trading" nights on Thursday and Friday, when trading ceases at 9pm. Many supermarkets and low end department stores remain open until midnight and some trade 24/7. Restaurants and cinemas can open at all hours, save for some public holidays. Bars generally trade seven days a week but there are local municipal restrictions concerning trading hours. Banks trade on Monday to Friday, with some branches opening on Saturdays and Sundays in high demand areas. The Post Office (Australia Post) trades Monday to Friday as per retail shops but some retail post offices may trade on Saturdays and Sundays in some shopping centres. A notable exception to the above is South Australia whereby retail establishments are restricted to trading between the hours of 11am-5pm on Sundays.

Brazil

As a general rule, Brazil adopts a 44-hour working week, which typically begins on Monday and ends on Friday, with a Saturday-Sunday weekend. Brazilian Law, however, also allows for shorter Monday-to-Friday working hours so employees can work on Saturdays or Sundays, as long as the weekly 44-hour limit is respected and the employee gets at least one weekend day. This is usually the case for malls, supermarkets and shops.

The law also grants labor unions the right to negotiate different work weeks, within certain limits, which then become binding for that union's labor category.

Overtime is allowed, limited to 2 extra hours a day, with an increase in pay.

Chile

A 45-hour working week in Chile begins on Monday and ends on Friday, and Saturday and Sunday constitute the weekend. Malls, supermarkets, and shops operate on Saturday, and in towns and cities most of them open also on Sunday.

China

In China, the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. China began the two-day Saturday–Sunday weekend on May 1, 1995. Most government employees work 5 days a week (including officials and industrial management). Most manufacturing facilities operate on Saturdays as well. However, most shops, museums, and cinemas are open on Saturday and Sunday. Commercial establishments, including consumer banking and consumer telecommunication branches, are generally open throughout the weekend and on most public holidays.

A number of provinces and municipalities across China, including Hebei, Jiangxi and Chongqing, have issued new policies, calling on companies to create 2.5-day weekends. Under the plan, government institutions, State-owned companies, joint-ventures and privately held companies are to be given incentives to allow their workers to take off at noon on Friday before coming back to the office on Monday.

Colombia

In general, Colombia has a 48-hour working week. Depending on the business, people work five days for max 8 hours per day, typically Monday to Friday, or six days for eight hours a day, Monday to Saturday.

EU

In Europe, the standard full-time working week begins on Monday and ends on Saturday. Most retail shops are open for business on Saturday. In Ireland, Italy, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the former socialist states of Europe, large shopping centres open on Sunday. In European countries such as Germany, there are laws regulating shop hours. With exceptions, shops must be closed on Sundays and from midnight until the early morning hours of every day.

Austria

The working week is Monday to Friday, although Friday is usually a half day. Shops are open on Saturday. By law, almost no shop is open on Sunday. However, exceptions have been made, for example for bakeries, petrol stations and shops at railway stations, especially in the largest cities (Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Linz).

Belgium

The working week is Monday to Friday. Working time must not exceed 8 hours per day and 38 hours per week (on average, annualized).

Bulgaria

The working week is Monday to Friday, eight hours per day, forty hours per week. Most pharmacies, shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants are open on Saturday and Sunday.

Croatia

The working week is Monday to Friday, seven and a half hours per day (+ 30 minutes lunch break), 37.5 hours per week (or 40 hours per week if lunch breaks are included as working hours). Most pharmacies, shops, bars, cafés, and restaurants are open on Saturday and Sunday.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, full-time employment is usually Monday to Friday, eight hours per day and forty hours per week. Many shops and restaurants are open on Saturday and Sunday, but employees still usually work forty hours per week.

Denmark

Denmark has an official 37-hour working week, with primary work hours between 6:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday. In public institutions, a 30-minute lunch break every day is included as per collective agreements, so that the actual required working time is 34.5 hours. In private companies, the 30-minute lunch break is normally not included.

Estonia

In Estonia, the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. Usually a working week is forty hours.

Finland

In Finland, the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. A full-time job is defined by law as being at least 32 and at most forty hours per week. In retail and restaurant occupations, among others, the weekly hours may be calculated as an average over three to ten weeks, depending on the employment contract. Banks and bureaus are closed on weekends. Most shops are open on Saturdays, while some are closed on Sundays.

France

The standard working week is Monday to Friday. Shops are also open on Saturday. Small shops may close on a weekday (generally Monday) to compensate workers for having worked on Saturday. By law, préfets may authorise a small number of specific shops to open on Sunday such as bars, cafés, restaurants, and bakeries, which are traditionally open every day but only during the morning on Sunday. Workers are not obliged to work on Sunday. School children have traditionally taken Wednesday off, or had only a half day, making up the time either with longer days for the rest of the week or sometimes a half day on Saturday. This practise was made much less common under new legislation rolled out over 2013–14.

Greece

The standard working week is Monday to Friday. State jobs are from 07:00 until 15:00. Shops are open Monday to Saturday from 08:00–13:00 and then from 16:00–21:00. It is very rare for a shop to open on Sunday.

Hungary

In Hungary the working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday. Full-time employment is usually considered forty hours per week. For office workers, the work day usually begins between 8 and 9 o'clock and ends between 16:00 and 18:00, depending on the contract and lunch time agreements. From 2015 the government banned for majority of shops to be open on Sundays, thus the open hours are longer on Saturdays than before. Many petrol stations are open 24 hours, (however they must not sell anything but petrol on Sundays) and in cities there are usually some small round-the-clock grocery stores serving local neighbourhoods (family businesses have the permission to be open on Sunday).

The forty-hour workweek of public servants includes lunch time. Their work schedule typically consists of 8.5 hours between Monday and Thursday (from 8:00 to 16:30) and 6 hours on Fridays (8:00–14:00).

Ireland

Ireland has a working week from Monday to Friday, with core working hours from 09:00 to 17:30. Retail stores are usually open until 21:00 every Thursday. Many grocery stores, especially in urban areas, are open until 21:00 or later, and some supermarkets and convenience stores may open around the clock. Shops are generally open all day Saturday and a shorter day Sunday (usually 10:00–12:00 to 17:00–19:00).

Italy

In Italy the 40-hour rule applies: Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 18:00, with a one-hour break for lunch. Sunday is always a holiday; Saturday is seldom a work day at most companies and universities, but it is generally a regular day for elementary, middle, and high schools.

In the past, shops had a break from 13:00 to 16:00 and they were generally open until 19:00. Working times for shops have been changed recently and now are at the owner's discretion; malls are generally open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 20:00, 15:00 to 20:00 on Monday, with no lunchtime closing.

Latvia

Latvia has a Monday to Friday working week capped at forty hours. Shops are mostly open on weekends, many large retail chains having full working hours even on Sunday. Private enterprises usually hold hours from 9:00 to 18:00, however government institutions and others may have a shorter working day, ending at 17:00.

Poland

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Large malls are open on Saturday and Sunday; many small shops are closed on Sunday. But make sure you check if they work during the weekend.

Portugal

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Street shops are almost always open on Saturday mornings but shopping centres are typically open every day (including Saturdays and Sundays).

Romania

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Shops are open on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend begins on Friday, and ends on Monday.

Spain

The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. The traditional opening hours are 9:00 to 13:00–14:00 and then 15:00–16:00 to 18:00 for most offices and workplaces. Most shops are open on Saturday mornings and many of the larger shopping malls are open all day Saturday and in some cities like Madrid, they are open most Sundays. Some restaurants, bars, and shops are closed Mondays, as Mondays are commonly a slow business day.

Sweden

In Sweden, the standard working week is Monday to Friday, both for offices and industry workers. The standard workday is eight hours, although it may vary greatly between different fields and businesses. Most office workers have flexible working hours and can largely decide themselves on how to divide these over the week. The working week is regulated by Arbetstidslagen (Work time law) to a maximum of 40 hours per week. The 40-hour-week is however easily bypassed by overtime. The law allows a maximum of 200 hours overtime per year. There is however no overseeing government agency; the law is often cited as toothless. In Sweden the workers are not paid for the standard 1 hour total break. Using the standard way of counting the hours, Sweden actually has a 45-hour working week.

Shops are almost always open on Saturdays and often on Sundays, supermarkets and shopping centres, so that employees there have to work. Traditionally, restaurants were closed on Mondays if they were opened during the weekend, but this has in recent years largely fallen out of practice. Many museums do however still remain closed on Mondays.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the standard working week is Monday to Friday, (40 hours). Shops are almost always open on Saturdays and often on Sundays. Coffeeshops have different opening times in every city; for instance, Leiden's coffeeshops are only open from 17:00 until 23:00.

United Kingdom

The traditional business working week is from Monday to Friday (35 to 40 hours depending on contract). In retail, and other fields such as healthcare, days off might be taken on any day of the week. Employers can make their employees work 7 days a week every week, although the employer is required to allow each employee breaks of either a continuous period of 24 hours every week or a continuous period of 48 hours every two weeks.

Laws for shop opening hours differ between Scotland and the rest of the UK. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, many shops and services are open on Saturdays and increasingly so on Sundays as well. In England and Wales, stores' maximum Sunday opening hours vary according to the total floor space of the store. In Scotland, however, there is no restriction in law on shop opening hours on a Sunday.

Under the EU Working Time Directive, workers cannot be forced to work for more than 48 hours per week on average. However, the UK allows individuals to opt out if they so choose. Individuals can choose to opt in again after opting out, even if opting out was part of their employment contract. It is illegal to dismiss them or treat them unfairly for so doing – but they may be required to give up to 3 months notice to give the employer time to prepare, depending on what their employment contract says.

The minimum holiday entitlement is now 28 days per year, but that can include public holidays, depending on the employee's contract. England & Wales have eight, Scotland has nine, and Northern Ireland has ten permanent public holidays each year. The 28 days holiday entitlement means that if the government creates a one-off public holiday in a given year, it is not necessarily a day off and it does not add 1 day to employees' holiday entitlement – unless the employer says otherwise, which some do.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, there is no any official distinction between the working week and weekend. In general, the working week begins on Monday and ends on Saturday, while Saturday is usually a half day, and Sunday is a rest day.

The five-day working week has been encouraged by the Government in 2006. However, there are still a number of companies' employees work a half day on Saturday. Most manufacturing facilities operate on Saturday as well, either a half day or full day.

Most shops, museums, and cinemas are open on Saturday and Sunday. Commercial establishments including and consumer telecommunication branches are generally open throughout the weekend and on most public holidays. On the other hand, banks and mail offices open on Saturday morning in general.

Most office jobs work on Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (1:00 to 2:00 p.m. for lunch break) and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. usually. However, it is noted that employees commonly have to work unpaid overtime for several hours per day.

India

The standard working week in India for most office jobs begins on Monday and ends on Saturday. The work schedule is 48 hours per week, Sunday being a rest day. However, the software industry follows a 5-day week at 40 or 44 hours a week.

Due to power shortages in some states, industrial areas have power shutdowns on staggered days of the week across the state. Hence each area may follow a different rest day for industry. Almost all industries follow a standard 48 hour workweek. All major industries along with services like transport, hospitality, healthcare etc. work in shifts.

Central government offices follow a 5-day week. State governments follow half day work on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays of each month and rest on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays, except West Bengal's government which follows a Monday–Friday workweek. There is usually no half working day in the private sector.

Generally establishments other than those having pure desk jobs are open till late evening in most cities, offering more flexibility of time to visitors. Most stores are open for 6 or 7 days a week. Retail shops in malls are open on all days. Doctors are mostly available in morning and evening in their clinics and at hospitals during day. Doctors usually work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Senior doctors and surgeons work more. Most visiting doctors attached to hospitals visit on all days.

Many services are open till 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. Most Restaurants are open on all days. Small eateries open early and bigger ones open around 11am. Most eateries close between 9 to 11 p.m. Many highway restaurants called dhabas are open for 24 hours a day. Dhabas are available in large numbers on all major state and national highways; outside city or village limits. Some highway fuel stations are open for 24 hours. Overall India works longer hours in most areas than most of the world and offers more flexibility of time for visitors.

Muslim countries

Thursday–Friday weekend

Friday is the Muslim holiday when Jumu'ah prayers take place. Most of the Middle Eastern countries and some other predominantly Muslim countries used to consider Thursday and Friday as their weekend. However, this weekend arrangement is no longer observed ( see below).

Friday weekend (One day weekend)

Three countries in the Muslim world have Friday as the only weekend day and have a six-day working week.

• In Iran, Thursday is half a day of work for most public offices and schools, but for most jobs, Thursday is a working day.
• In Afghanistan, Thursday was half a day of work. Government buildings closed around 11:30 (local time). This no longer holds.
• In Djibouti, many offices also tend to open early - around 7:00 or 8:00, then closing at 13:00 or 14:00, especially during the summer due to the afternoon heat.

Friday–Saturday weekend

Following reforms in a number of Arab States of the Persian Gulf in the 2000s and 2010s, the Thursday–Friday weekend was replaced by the Friday–Saturday weekend. This change provided for the Muslim offering of Friday prayers and afforded more work days to coincide with the working calendars of international financial markets.

• Afghanistan (2015)
• Algeria (2009)
• Bahrain (2006)
• Bangladesh
• Egypt
• Iraq (2005–2006)
• Jordan (Week of January 8, 2000)
• Kuwait (2007)
• Libya (2005–2006)
• Malaysia (only in the states of Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah)
• Maldives (2013)
• Oman (2013)
• Palestine
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia (2013)
• Sudan (2008)
• Syria (2005–2006)
• United Arab Emirates (2006)
• Yemen (2013)

Saturday–Sunday weekend

Other countries with Muslim-majority populations or significant Muslim populations follow the Saturday–Sunday weekend, such as Lebanon, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco. While Friday is a working day, a long midday break is given to allow time for worship. Those countries are:

• Indonesia In Friday, due to prayer time for Muslim, the lunch break is extended up to 2 hours or more. Shopping malls always open and very crowded in Saturday and Sunday. Thus, some banks serve weekend banking, especially for branches located in or near shopping malls.
• Lebanon The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week. Large malls are open on Saturday and Sunday; many small shops close on Sunday.
• Malaysia (except the states of Johor, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, which have a Friday–Saturday weekend)
• Mauritania Since October 2014.
• Morocco
• Pakistan follows the standard international 40-hour working week, from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday being the weekend. However, in many schools and enterprises, Friday is usually considered a half-day.
• Tunisia The working week is Monday to Friday; 8 hours per day, 40 hours in total per week.
• Turkey Working above 45 hours is considered overtime, and the employer is required to pay 1.5x the hourly wage per hour.

Non-contiguous working week

Brunei Darussalam has a non-contiguous working week, consisting of Monday to Thursday plus Saturday. The days of rest are Friday and Sunday.

Some non-government companies in Brunei adopted the working week of Monday to Friday, while the weekend starts on Saturday until Sunday. Depending on the company rules, employees may be required to work half-day on Saturday.

Israel

For most Israelis, the working week begins on Sunday and ends on Thursday or Friday midday to accommodate Jewish Sabbath, which begins Friday night and the Muslim Jumu'ah, which begins after noon. The standard working week is 43 hours per week. A workday is 8.6 hours except under special cases by law.

Japan

The standard business office working week in Japan begins on Monday and ends on Friday, 40 hours per week. This system became common between 1980 and 2000. Before then, most workers in Japan worked full-time from Monday to Friday and a half day on Saturday, 45–48 hours per week. Public schools and facilities (excluding city offices) are generally open on Saturdays for half a day.

Mexico

Mexico has a 48-hour work week (8 hours × 6 days), it is a custom in most industries and trades to work half day on Saturday. Shops and retailers open on Saturday and Sunday in most large cities.

Mongolia

Mongolia has a Monday to Friday working week, with a normal maximum time of 40 hours. Most shops are also open on weekends, many large retail chains having full opening hours even on Sunday. Private enterprises conduct business from 9:00 to 18:00, and government institutions may have full working hours.

Nepal

Nepal follows the ancient Vedic calendar, which has the resting day on Saturday and the first day of the working week on Sunday. Schools in Nepal are off on Saturdays, so it is common for pupils to go to school from Sunday to Friday.

In November 2012, the home ministry proposed a two-day holiday per week plan for all government offices except at those providing essential services like electricity, water, and telecommunications. This proposal followed a previous proposal by the Nepali government, i.e. Load-shedding Reduction Work Plan 2069 BS, for a five working day plan for government offices as part of efforts to address the problem of load-shedding. The proposal has been discussed in the Administration Committee; it is not yet clear whether the plan includes private offices and educational institutions.

New Zealand

In New Zealand the working week is typically Monday to Friday 8:30 to 17:00, but it is not uncommon for many industries (especially construction) to work a half day on Saturday, normally from 8:00 or 9:00 to about 13:00. Supermarkets, malls, independent retailers, and increasingly, banks, remain open seven days a week.

Russia

In Russia the common working week begins on Monday and ends on Friday with 8 hours per day.

Federal law defines a working week duration of 5 or 6 days with no more than 40 hours worked. In all cases Sunday is a holiday. With a 5-day working week the employer chooses which day of the week will be the second day off. Usually this is a Saturday, but in some organizations (mostly government), it is Monday. Government offices can thereby offer Saturday service to people with a normal working schedule.

There are non-working public holidays in Russia; all of them fall on a fixed date. By law, if such a holiday coincides with an ordinary day off, the next work day becomes a day off. An official public holiday cannot replace a regular day off. Each year the government can modify working weeks near public holidays in order to optimize the labor schedule. For example, if a five-day week has a public holiday on Tuesday or Thursday, the calendar is rearranged to provide a reasonable working week.

Exceptions include occupations such as transit workers, shop assistants, and security guards. In many cases independent schemes are used. For example, the service industry often uses the X-through-Y scheme (Russian: X через Y) when every worker uses X days for work and the next Y days for rest.

Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union the standard working week was 41 hours: 8 hours, 12 min. Monday to Friday. Before the mid-1960s there was a 42-hour 6-day standard working week: 7 hours Monday to Friday and 6 hours on Saturday.

Singapore

In Singapore the common working week is 5-day work week, which runs from Monday to Friday beginning 8:30 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. Some companies work a half day on Saturdays. Shops, supermarkets and malls are open seven days a week and on most public holidays.

South Africa

In South Africa the working week traditionally was Monday to Friday with a half-day on Saturday and Sunday a public holiday. However, since 2013 there have been changes to the working week concept based on more than one variation. The week can be 5 days of work, or more. The maximum number of hours someone can work in a week remains 45.

Thailand

In Thailand the working week is Monday to Saturday for a maximum of 44 to 48 hours per week (Saturday is usually a half or full day).

However, government offices and some private companies have modernised through enacting the American and European standard of working Monday through Friday.

Currently, 50% of the luxury beach resorts in Phuket have a five-day working week. Of the remaining 50%, 23% have taken steps to reform their 6-day workweek through such measures as reducing the working week from 6 days to 5.5 days.

United States

The standard working week in the United States begins on Monday and ends on Friday, 40 hours per week, with Saturday and Sunday being weekend days. However, in practice, only 42% of employees work 40-hour weeks. The average American workweek is 47 hours. Most stores are open for business on Saturday and may be open a full or half-day on Sunday as well, except where prohibited by law (see Blue law). Increasingly, employers are offering compressed work schedules to employees. Many government and corporate employees now work 80 hours over 9 days during a two-week period (commonly 9 hour days Monday to Thursday, 8 hours on one Friday, and off the following Friday). Jobs in healthcare, law enforcement, transportation, retail, and other service positions commonly require employees to work on the weekend or to do shift work.

See also

• Feria
• Labour and employment law
• Long weekend
• Business day
• Calendar day
• Days of the week
• Shopping hours
• Saint Monday (precursor of modern weekend)
• TGIF
• Waiting for the Weekend
• Working time – how much time people spend working in a day, week, or year
• Work–life balance