Rest between one shift and the next: 11 hours a day and weekly rest.

In short

• Between the end of one shift and the start of the next you need at least 11 hours of rest in a row, every 24 hours.
• Every 7 days you need a rest of at least 24 hours in a row, as a rule on Sunday. It is added to the 11 hours of daily rest.
• Weekly rest is calculated as an average over a period of no more than 14 days.
• Collective agreements can set different rules, but only under the conditions set by law, including equivalent periods of compensatory rest.

Daily rest: 11 hours in a row

Art. 7 of Legislative Decree no. 66 of 8 April 2003 (D.Lgs. 66/2003) gives workers eleven hours of consecutive rest every twenty-four hours. The rest must be taken all in one go. Activities with work periods split during the day or with on-call arrangements are an exception.

In practice you look at two times: when one shift ends and when the next one starts. At least 11 hours must pass between them.

Weekly rest: 24 hours, plus the 11 of the day

Art. 9(1) provides for a rest of at least twenty-four consecutive hours every seven days, as a rule on Sunday, to be added to the daily rest under Art. 7.

Added means summed. That is why people often speak of 35 hours in a row (24 + 11): from the end of the last shift before the rest day to the start of the first shift after it.

The same paragraph says that weekly rest is calculated as an average over a period of no more than 14 days. So the count is not made on each single week, but over a period of up to two weeks. The collective agreement applied may have stricter rules: always check it.

Paragraph 3 of the same article allows, for certain activities and for people who work particular shift patterns, the rest day to be set on a day other than Sunday.

Shift examples

1. Closing in the evening and opening the next morning: not allowed

Monday from 14:00 to 22:00, Tuesday from 06:00 to 14:00. Between 22:00 and 06:00 there are 8 hours. 3 are missing: daily rest is not respected.

2. Closing at 22:00 and returning at 09:00: allowed

Monday from 14:00 to 22:00, Tuesday from 09:00 to 17:00. Between 22:00 and 09:00 there are exactly 11 hours: the minimum is respected. Starting just half an hour earlier would take it below.

3. Split shift: allowed

Tuesday from 09:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00, Wednesday from 08:00 to 12:00. The afternoon break is not the daily rest. What counts is the stretch from 21:00 on Tuesday to 08:00 on Wednesday: 11 hours. Respected.

4. Night shift followed by an afternoon: not allowed

Night from 22:00 to 06:00, then a shift from 16:00 the same day. Between 06:00 and 16:00 there are 10 hours. Not enough: the shift should start no earlier than 17:00.

5. Tight rest day: be careful

Saturday from 14:00 to 22:00, Sunday rest, Monday from 06:00 to 14:00. From 22:00 on Saturday to 06:00 on Monday there are 32 hours, fewer than the 35 you get by adding 24 and 11. It is not necessarily a breach: weekly rest is calculated as an average over 14 days and the collective agreement may have its own rules. It is still worth checking the whole period and, if in doubt, asking your employment consultant. If Monday's shift starts at 09:00, the question does not arise.

Common mistakes

• Closing and opening by the same person on two days in a row. This is the most frequent case of rest under 11 hours.
• Last-minute shift swaps. A swap between colleagues solves the cover, but may shorten the rest of the person taking the shift.
• Overtime at the end of a shift. If the evening shift runs late, the rest before the next shift gets shorter.
• Counting only the day off. A free calendar day is not enough if the shift before ends late and the one after starts early.
• Checking one week at a time. Rest must also be checked across two weeks, between Sunday and Monday.
• Taking exceptions for granted. Exceptions apply only if the law or the collective agreement provides for them, under the conditions set.

Exceptions in collective agreements, in general

Art. 17(1) allows national collective agreements, signed with the comparatively most representative trade unions, to depart from Art. 7 on daily rest, among other things. In the private sector, if the national agreement says nothing, exceptions can be set in local or company agreements signed with the same organisations.

For weekly rest, Art. 9(2) lists some exceptions. For example shift work, when someone changing shift or team cannot take the rest between the end of one shift and the start of the next, and activities with work periods split during the day. It also provides that collective agreements can set different rules, in compliance with Art. 17(4).

Art. 17(4) sets the condition: exceptions are allowed only if workers are given equivalent periods of compensatory rest. Only in exceptional cases, when this is not possible for objective reasons, at least appropriate protection is required.

In practice: read the chapter on working hours and rest in the collective agreement you apply and, if in doubt, ask your payroll consultant.

Sources

• D.Lgs. 66/2003, Art. 7, Daily rest (text in force since 22 August 2008)
• D.Lgs. 66/2003, Art. 9, Weekly rest (text in force since 22 August 2008)
• D.Lgs. 66/2003, Art. 17, Exceptions (text in force since 26 November 2015)

Text consulted on Normattiva on 25 October 2026.

How Orevia helps you

With Orevia you prepare shifts in the weekly plan. Before you publish them, the software checks daily and weekly rest against the limits of the uploaded collective agreement (CCNL) or, where the agreement does not specify them, the statutory limits, and flags the shifts that do not meet them. Afterwards, clock-ins show the hours actually worked. Discover shift management.

This guide is for information only and does not replace the collective agreement applied or the advice of the payroll consultant.