Standard Hours
What are standard hours?
Standard hours are the set number of hours employees are expected to work in a regular workweek. In the U.S., 40 hours per week are considered standard work hours for full-time employees.
However, standard working hours can vary depending on employment status (e.g., part-time or full-time), work schedule (shift work or compressed work week), industry, geographic location, and job roles.
Organizations must comply with established standard work hours and overtime regulations defined by labor laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These legal guidelines enable HR and managers to schedule working hours accurately, and fairly compensate employees who work beyond standard weekly hours.
6 examples of standard work hours
The type of industry and position influences employees’ standard working hours. Here are six different examples of standard work hours:
- Traditional office roles (9-to-5 schedule): Full-time employees in the U.S. usually work eight hours a day from Monday to Friday, totaling 40 hours per week (e.g., corporate, tech, government agencies).
- Retail and hospitality (shift work): These industries often have rotating shifts, such as 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., or overnight shifts (depending on whether an employee is full-time or part-time).
- Healthcare (12-hour shifts): 12-hour shifts are common in healthcare (e.g., 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. or 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.). They may be part of a compressed workweek (e.g., three days a week) to give employees sufficient time off from their intense schedules.
- Education (teachers): Teaching hours are usually from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, teachers often work extra hours to grade assignments, prepare for classes, and attend staff meetings and after-school events. They’re also not eligible for overtime, as they are salaried (exempt) employees.
- Construction: Construction workers often work standard working hours, starting early in the morning (7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., depending on mealtimes and how many breaks they get). However, some construction projects may involve shift work, working weekends, or working longer hours in the summer.
- 9/80 work schedule: This involves two-week blocks of 80 hours, with one day off every fortnight. For instance, employees work nine-hour days from Monday to Thursday, and an eight-hour day on Friday one week. The next week, they work four nine-hour days again but get Friday off. This arrangement is popular in industries like technology, manufacturing, and engineering.
Design a fair, practical standard hours policy
Learn how you can design a fair, practical standard hours policy to benefit both the company and its workforce. You’ll need to create a policy that balances business needs with employee wellbeing by ensuring clarity, flexibility, legal compliance, and fairness for all roles.
AIHR’s Talent Management and Succession Planning Certificate Program will teach you strategies to align talent management with business goals, foster a supportive work environment, and implement data-driven practices, enabling you to fair staff policies.
How to calculate standard hours
A full-time employee’s most common standard working hours are eight hours per day (e.g., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including a lunch break). However, standard hours can vary, and you can calculate them on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis. Below are two examples:
Example 1: Daily standard hours
Daily standard hours are calculated using the following formula:
Daily standard hours = Total work hours per week ÷ Number of workdays per week
For instance, the daily standard working hours for a full-time employee with a 40-hour workweek on a five-day schedule would be:
40 hours per week ÷ 5 workdays per week = 8 daily standard hours
Example 2: Weekly standard hours
Weekly standard hours are calculated using the following formula:
Weekly standard hours = Daily standard hours x Number of workdays per week
For instance, weekly standard hours for a part-time employee who works five hours a day from Monday to Thursday every week would be:
5 hours per day x 4 workdays per week = 20 weekly standard hours
Benefits and challenges of implementing standard working hours
Below are the key benefits and challenges of providing employees with standard working hours, including:
Benefits
- Streamlined payroll processing: Standard working hours provide a clear, simplified structure for calculating employee compensation.
- Easier strategic workforce planning: Implementing standard hours provides clarity when reviewing, identifying, and forecasting staffing needs.
- Legal compliance: When well-managed, standard hours can help HR teams with accurate record-keeping and compliance with labor laws.
- Consistent work scheduling: Standard hours offer a clear overview of and framework for scheduling work shifts and vacation coverage.
- Simplified collaboration and communication: Standard hours can enhance collaboration and communication, as staff are more likely to be available simultaneously.
Challenges
- Not suitable for all employees: Standard hours may be inconvenient for employee groups who need more flexibility in balancing work and personal responsibilities.
- Inconsistency in some industries: Standard hours may be impractical in certain industries, such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, and manufacturing.
- Potentially problematic for smaller businesses: Compared to larger companies, startups or those with limited resources may not have the means to offer all staff standard hours.
- Accommodating employees in different locations: Aligning standard hours with various time zones and business needs when operating across geographies may be challenging.
How can HR implement effective standard hour practices
You can establish an effective standard hours policy that meets both employee and business needs by following these best practices:
Clearly define and communicate standard hours
Outline the expected standard work hours for each role in your organization. Communicate schedules clearly in employee contracts and onboarding materials. If standard hours change, inform employees as soon as possible.
Train managers
Offer training sessions to familiarize managers with the organization’s policy on standard work hours, and effectively handle work schedule requirements. It’s crucial for them to fully understand the policy, guidelines for making changes to it, and relevant overtime regulations.
Balance standard hours with flexibility
Allow flexible scheduling within standard work hours wherever possible. For example, full-time employees should be able to start and stop work earlier or later, as long as they adhere to the expected eight-hour workday (or other standard hours established by the organization).
Use technology to schedule and track hours
Tools like time and attendance software and HRIS (Human Resources information systems) can help HR teams track employee attendance, hours worked, and overtime. This will help you optimize scheduling, ensure compliance, and support workforce planning.
Periodically review standard hours and get employee feedback
Conduct periodic assessments of the company’s standard hours policy (e.g., annually) to evaluate if work schedules meet operational needs and contribute to employee satisfaction. Request employee input to determine if the policy supports productivity and work-life balance.
FAQ
Standard working hours are the established hours employees are expected to work. A common example of full-time standard hours in the U.S. is eight hours a day or 40 hours a week (e.g., 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday). However, these can vary across different industries, roles, and geographic locations.
Standard hours are the number of hours an employee is expected to work. Overtime hours are any hours worked beyond their standard work hours. For example, if a nonexempt employee’s standard hours are 40 hours per week and they work an additional five hours during one week, those five hours count as overtime under the FLSA.
