RRosterly

The Dutch working-hours rules, in plain language

The Arbeidstijdenwet (Working Hours Act) sets the legal frame for everyone who employs people in the Netherlands. Here is the version that matters to a horeca or retail owner — no legalese. This page explains the rules; always confirm details that affect your own staff with your payroll bureau or a specialist.

The numbers that bind every roster

Rule	Limit
Work per shift	Maximum 12 hours (article 5:7)
Work per week	Maximum 60 hours in a single week
Average over 4 weeks	Maximum 55 hours per week on average
Rest between shifts	Minimum 11 hours (once a week reducible to 8)
Breaks	30 minutes after 5.5 hours, 45 minutes after 10 hours
Sundays	At least 4 free Sundays per 13-week period
Minors (16–17)	Max 9 hours per day, 45 per week, no work 23:00–07:00

These are the statutory floors. Your collective agreement (CAO) may add stricter or different rules — the CAO always sits on top. Rosterly checks the statutory rules automatically and shows them as plain-language warnings on the roster. It does not replace a payroll specialist.

Where hand-made rosters break the law silently

The classic failure is the same every time: a long day nobody noticed (two shifts that add up to 14 hours), a minor put on a closing shift, a rest period of nine hours instead of eleven. These are not sabotage — they are what happens when a person stares at a grid at 23:00. Software that checks every rule on every save is the difference between a warning today and a fine after an inspection.

Open the demo — the checks run as you plan