Weekend work

What it means

Weekend work is work performed on Saturday or Sunday, for which the employee is entitled to a statutory wage supplement on top of their pay. The Labour Code sets the minimum supplement as a share of the minimum wage for each hour, higher for Sunday than for Saturday.

For certain employers whose operations require weekend work, a collective agreement or the employment contract may set a lower amount, but only down to a statutory floor. The weekend supplement adds to other supplements, such as for night work or overtime.

Rules on scheduling working time also protect the employee’s rest. Every employee must have a continuous weekly rest period of the statutory length, which should include Sunday where operations allow.

How it works in practice

For payroll we need the employer’s working time records showing how many hours the employee worked on Saturday and how many on Sunday. We calculate the supplements separately, as they differ in amount and change with the minimum wage every year.

If an employee works on a Saturday that is also a public holiday, they are also entitled to the public holiday supplement. With uneven working time we check that the schedule respects mandatory rest and that the employee does not exceed the overtime limits.

When the minimum wage changes on 1 January, we alert clients with weekend operations to the rise in costs. If the employment contract sets the supplement as a fixed amount, we check that it has not fallen below the statutory minimum after the change.

What to watch out for

The weekend supplement cannot be replaced by building it into a higher basic wage without an explicit agreement. If the contract does not state that the wage already includes supplements and in what amount, the employee can claim the shortfall retroactively.

An employer may order weekend work beyond the schedule only in cases set by law. Frequent weekend overtime without time off in lieu breaches the rest rules, which labour inspectors check as a priority.