{
  "meta": {
    "schema": "statbook-api/1",
    "release_version": "3.0.0",
    "compiled_at": "2026-09-21T00:00:00Z",
    "generated_at": "2026-09-28T09:07:46Z",
    "attribution": [
      "© Crown and database right. Derived from content available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 from legislation.gov.uk.",
      "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0."
    ],
    "docs": "https://statbook.co.uk/docs/",
    "signing": {
      "scheme": "minisign",
      "public_key": "RWSPzbJEmAXVEvTqYZ8O9iHuOcOUii5lCNZM5t9bdoQh4ZnwKsxk/+bd",
      "key_id": "12D5059844B2CD8F",
      "verify": "https://statbook.co.uk/assurance/#verify"
    }
  },
  "figure_id": "employment.working_time.max_weekly_hours",
  "name": "Maximum weekly working time: average hours limit",
  "unit": "hours",
  "value_type": "count",
  "source_type": "si",
  "jurisdiction": "GB",
  "scope_note": "48 hours as a 17-week AVERAGE, so a 60-hour week breaks nothing on its own. It is the one working-time limit with an INDIVIDUAL opt-out: since SI 1999/3372 the paragraph applies unless the employer has the worker's written agreement to work beyond it, and regulation 4(2) then requires up-to-date records of who has agreed. Regulation 25A(1) substitutes 52 hours for the 48 in the doctors-in-training modification it describes, which is a different figure and a spent one. The night worker's separate eight-hour average is `employment.working_time.night_work_limit_hours`, and a young worker's hard 40-hour week is `employment.working_time.young_worker.max_weekly_hours`.",
  "current": {
    "value": 48,
    "value_minor": null,
    "effective_from": "1998-10-01",
    "effective_to": null,
    "announcement_date": null,
    "enacted_date": null,
    "instrument_made": true,
    "terminal_kind": null,
    "status": "single_source_A",
    "sources": [
      {
        "role": "legislation",
        "citation": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/made (SI 1998/1833 reg 4(1) as made: \"Subject to regulation 5, a worker's working time, including overtime, in any reference period which is applicable in his case shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days\"; in force 1 October 1998, reg 1(1))",
        "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/made",
        "retrieved": "2026-09-11T00:12:39Z",
        "content_hash": "sha256:702d61bf3f06765266766b01fd082464b0d0750526f6a1d8019d63ab3a2c9c26",
        "content_hash_of": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/made/data.xml"
      }
    ],
    "verified": {
      "legislation": "2026-09-21T10:07:35Z"
    },
    "last_verified": "2026-09-21T10:07:35Z"
  },
  "value_numeric": 48,
  "upcoming": null,
  "receipt": {
    "record_hash": "sha256:54833558ddac3590c42cf5955b67260bb85d8f5cfdcc21905699e2bda0370b76",
    "record_hash_of": "the `figure` object, serialized as UTF-8 JSON with 2-space indent, ensure_ascii=false and a trailing newline",
    "release_version": "3.0.0",
    "manifest": "https://statbook.co.uk/v1/releases/3.0.0/manifest.json",
    "record_url": "https://statbook.co.uk/v1/figures/employment.working_time.max_weekly_hours.json",
    "sources": [
      {
        "role": "legislation",
        "citation": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/made (SI 1998/1833 reg 4(1) as made: \"Subject to regulation 5, a worker's working time, including overtime, in any reference period which is applicable in his case shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days\"; in force 1 October 1998, reg 1(1))",
        "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/made",
        "retrieved": "2026-09-11T00:12:39Z",
        "content_hash": "sha256:702d61bf3f06765266766b01fd082464b0d0750526f6a1d8019d63ab3a2c9c26",
        "content_hash_of": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1833/made/data.xml"
      }
    ],
    "verified": {
      "legislation": "2026-09-21T10:07:35Z"
    },
    "last_verified": "2026-09-21T10:07:35Z"
  }
}
