The 48-hour week, and how close you are to it
The Working Time limit is an average of 48 hours a week over 17 weeks, and a worker may opt out of it. Muster shows every week against 48 hours on the first screen of the app, and turns red only when your average passes it.
What the limit is
Under the Working Time Regulations, a worker should not average more than 48 hours a week. The average is normally taken over 17 weeks, so one long week is not a breach. A worker can sign an opt-out. See Maximum weekly working hours on gov.uk. The limit is a worker's, so it does not apply to somebody self-employed.
What Muster shows
The strip under the header on Today is this week's hours against 48. It is blue up to your weekly threshold, 39 unless your rules say otherwise, overtime green from there to 48, and full only at 48.
| The strip | Means |
|---|---|
| Amber | This week has passed 48 hours |
| Red | Your average over the complete weeks Muster holds has passed 48 |
The average uses up to 17 complete weeks and needs at least four, so a new starter is not judged on one week. When the strip changes colour, the week card says which of the two it is, in a line of its own.
It is a reference mark. Muster never says you have broken the law. It shows where you stand, so that you, or whoever plans the work, can see it coming.
The details are in What Today shows you and The 48-hour week.
If you have opted out
Turn on I have signed the 48-hour opt-out in Settings, under your working day, and the week card says nothing more about 48. Your hours are counted exactly the same either way.
Self-employed
Say you are self-employed when Muster asks how you work, and it says nothing about the 48-hour limit and offers no opt-out. Your hours are counted the same.
Breaks
Before you send a period, Muster lists the days with no break recorded. A break counts if you entered one, or if there is a gap of 20 minutes or more between two entries. Nothing is ever deducted for a missing break. Muster cannot tell a break you did not record from one you did not take, so it says what it can see and leaves it to you.
What it does not check
Muster does not yet check the rights in Rest breaks at work on gov.uk: 11 hours' rest between working days, weekly rest, a 20-minute break in a day over six hours. Nor does it check night-work limits. It shows your hours. It is not a working time compliance system.
Related
Try the demo - invented data, no account. Request a demo to use it for real. The manual has every screen.