It has been more than three years since the Revised Labour Law (Labour Law) came into force. For the first time, Labour Law provided detailed regulations for “roster shifts". According to Article 92.3 of the Labour Law, “For roster shift employees, the working day shall not last more than 12 hours, and overtime pay shall be calculated and paid based on Article 109.1 in accordance with Article 87. This article has created uncertainty in the application of the law and created a discrepancy between employees and employers as to how normal working hours were determined.

To clarify, the main point of contention is whether the normal working hours for roster shift employees should be calculated as 12 hours a day or 8 hours. Labour rights disputes over this issue have arisen extensively, and the Supreme Court (SC) has received and resolved several complaints. These types of disputes are usually resolved by the courts of first instance and the appellate courts, usually in favor of the employer. Instead, the SC received and resolved the complaints on the grounds that they were "bridging the gap in the application of the law" and that they were “of general importance in principle to the establishment of new legal concepts or the application of the law.“

This Legal Insight presents a brief summary of how roster shift working hours have been understood and applied in the SC resolutions.

What happened?

Between May and October 2024, the SC resolved several disputes related to roster shift working hours. The disputes focused on the issue of not considering 4 hours out of the 12-hour workday as overtime and not paying the corresponding overtime pay. The vast majority of the disputes were decided in favor of the employer, with the Court of First Instance and the Appellate Courts dismissing the claims. Instead, the SC held that the Court of First Instance and the Appellate Courts had failed to properly interpret the Labour Law and therefore had reason to rectify it and satisfy the plaintiff's claims.

Supreme Court’s analysis

Below is a brief summary of the main issues raised by the SC in satisfying the claim and resolving it in favor of the employees:

Firstly, the normal working hours for roster shift employees are 8 hours per day: Article 92.3 of the Labour Law states that the length of the workday for a roster shift employee is "not more than 12 hours," not "12 hours." In other words, the length of the normal working day for a roster shift employee shall not exceed 8 hours, and the employer may arrange for an extension of up to 4 hours as agreed with the employee, for a total of 12 hours.

Read the full examination and more: