Rest between shifts in a restaurant: 11 hours or 8?
In short
- Under MaRa TES (the restaurant sector collective agreement) § 7 item 4, rest between shifts is at least 11 hours, unless otherwise agreed with the employee.
- Even by agreement, rest must be at least 8 hours. The agreement stays valid until either party says otherwise, but always to the end of an already published roster (MaRa TES 7 § 4).
- Between shifts of at least 10 hours on consecutive days there must be 11 hours of rest, with no room for agreement (MaRa TES 7 § 4).
- Under section 25 of the Working Hours Act (työaikalaki, 872/2019), 11 hours of uninterrupted rest must be given within 24 hours of the start of each shift. In periodic work (jaksotyö) it may be cut to nine hours for work-arrangement reasons.
When is there too little rest between shifts?
A closing shift ends at 24:00 and the opening shift starts at 10:00. That leaves 10 hours. Daily rest (vuorokausilepo), the uninterrupted rest between shifts, is at least 11 hours under MaRa TES § 7 item 4, so this pair is not acceptable.
A closing shift followed by an opening shift
- Evening supplement 18:00–24:00
- at least 11 h
The rest between work shifts is at least 11 hours, unless otherwise agreed with the employee. The rest must, however, be at least 8 hours.
The law and agreement measure rest differently: the agreement speaks of rest between shifts, the law of 11 hours "within the 24 hours following the start of each shift". The same item's last sentence also limits agreements: between shifts of at least 10 hours on consecutive days, 11 hours always remain. See also shift length.
How do the Working Hours Act and the collective agreement differ?
Section 25 subsection 1 of the Act requires 11 hours, and in periodic work it may be cut to nine hours for work-arrangement reasons. In shift work under section 6, the rest may be cut to five hours when changing shifts, for at most three consecutive daily rests (25 § subsection 3). Compensatory rest for a rest cut to nine or five hours must be given with the next daily rest, or, if that is impossible for compelling reasons, within 14 days at the latest (25 § subsection 4).
Section 34 subsection 1 lets a collective agreement deviate from the daily rest of section 25, but not from the compensatory rest of subsection 4. How the figures meet in a borderline case is a matter of interpretation; if unclear, ask MaRa or PAM (the service sector union).
How is an agreement on less than 11 hours made?
The agreement requires an arrangement "with the employee", so an employer cannot decide on a shorter rest alone when drawing up the roster. Withdrawing the agreement does not end it in the middle of a published roster.
Rest between shifts under MaRa TES
- 0–8 h · Under 8 h · not allowed
- 8–11 h · 8–11 h · by agreement only
- 11–14 h · At least 11 h · basic rule
The agreement has no prescribed form, but a verbal one is hard to prove. A written note with the employee's name, the shift pair or period, and the date pp.kk.vvvv is easier to show. If the short rest arises from changing a published roster, MaRa TES § 9 also applies: "The shift roster may not be changed without the consent of the employee and the employer."
Example: which pairs of shifts meet the rest requirement?
Shift times are fictional; rules from MaRa TES § 7 item 4.
| Previous shift | Next shift | Rest | Meets TES? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tu 16.00–24.00 | We from 11.00 | 11 h | Yes, basic rule |
| Tu 16.00–24.00 | We from 08.00 | 8 h | Only by agreement with the employee |
| Tu 16.00–24.00 | We from 07.30 | 7.5 h | No, under 8 h |
| Fr 12.00–22.00 (10 h) | Sa 08.00–18.00 (10 h) | 10 h | No, two shifts of 10 h or more need 11 h |
| Fr 12.00–22.00 (10 h) | Sa 09.00–17.00 (8 h) | 11 h | Yes |
Check each pair:
- Count the hours from the end of the earlier shift to the start of the next.
- At least 11 hours: the rule is met.
- 8–11 hours: a shorter rest agreed with the employee is needed. If both shifts are 10 hours or more, 11 hours is still required.
- Under 8 hours: the pair is not acceptable, and one shift must move.
How Plana helps
Plana's TES check runs every shift against MaRa TES and the Working Hours Act while you plan. Rests, consecutive days and period hours are checked immediately, including the 11-hour daily rest. An illegal shift does not save, so a too-short closing and opening pair is caught while planning.
A change to a published shift takes effect only when the employee accepts it, and every change and acceptance is recorded. Working-time records and roster change history are stored and exportable for a workplace safety inspection (työsuojelutarkastus). See all features; the free trial needs no demo or training.
- TES checkRest times, days in a row and period hours are checked as you plan. An illegal shift won't save.