Employees employed in the workplace perform their duties in accordance with the working time system specified by the employer. They have a fixed number of hours to be worked on a given day, week and pay period. It is permissible to use several different systems in one establishment, of which the equivalent working time system is considered to be one of the more flexible.

The system of equivalent working time allows for the extension of working time on a given day or week and its reduction on another day or week, or the granting of days off work. In this system, the working time should be planned in such a way that its permissible amount is not exceeded in the settlement period. An equivalent working time system allows for the extension of daily working time to 12 hours. It is worth remembering that there are exceptions to this rule, which include working with device surveillance. In such a case, the daily working time may be a maximum of 16 hours in a reference period not exceeding one month.

The extended daily working time can also be used for guarding property, protecting people,

for employees of company fire brigades and rescue services.

In their case, the daily working time may be extended to 24 hours in a settlement period of one month. After each day of working extended daily working hours, the employee is entitled to rest for at least the number of hours worked. On the other hand, if the daily working time has not been extended, then the rest must be at least 11 hours.

When equivalent working time is applied, the average weekly working time standard of 40 hours should be maintained. It should be remembered that the weekly norm is the average norm. This means that you can plan up to 60 hours of work in one week (5 days of 12 hours each) and correspondingly less in the other weeks of the billing period. However, it should be taken into account that the employee’s right to rest is preserved. A worker working under an equivalent working time system is entitled to a weekly rest period (at least 35 hours of uninterrupted rest) each week. In the case of an equivalent work system, the worker must be provided with a number of days off during the reference period corresponding to at least the number of Sundays, holidays and public holidays in an average five-day working week falling during that period.

An equivalent working time system may be used:

• with shift work,
• with work on Sundays and holidays,
• with individual working time schedules.

The use of an equivalent working time system is time-consuming, as it requires work planning for each pay period.

Pursuant to Article 135 § 1 of the Labour Code, an equivalent working time system may be applied, if justified by the type of work or its organisation, in a reference period not exceeding one month. It can be used, for example, in gastronomy, hospitality, trade, agriculture, shipping, hairdressing and beauty salons, security, company fire brigades, company rescue services or at petrol stations. This system allows you to extend the daily working time to 12 hours during a one-month settlement period. However, in justified cases, the settlement period and the daily working time may be extended:

• in the case of works depending on the season or weather conditions, the settlement period can be extended to 4 months;
• In the case of work involving the supervision of equipment or related to partial standby duty, the daily working time may be extended to a maximum of 16 hours in a reference period not exceeding one month;
• In the case of work involving guarding property or protecting persons, as well as employees of company fire brigades and company rescue services, the daily working time may be extended to a maximum of 24 hours in a reference period not exceeding one month.

According to the regulations, the daily working time may not exceed 8 hours:

• in employees who are employed in workplaces where the maximum permissible concentrations or intensities of factors harmful to health are exceeded;
• pregnant workers;
• employees caring for a child until the child is 4 years old, without their consent.

Employees are entitled to remuneration for the time not worked due to a reduction in working time.

An equivalent working time system may prove to be an ideal solution for employees whose specific work requires a more flexible approach to working hours.

Source: https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-rownowazny-system-czasu-pracy-charakterystyka-systemu

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.