The standard hours of the normal working week for manual workers under the national agreement of December 1980, are 39. They normally exclude meal breaks which are unpaid. The hours of the working week are amongst the issues that are now for determination at domestic level.
The length of the normal working week is inter-related with other terms and conditions of employment. These include overtime, holiday entitlement and pay, shift hours, apprentice rates, and the guarantee of employment. Where companies have negotiated changes to their normal working week, payments made under the guarantee of employment agreement or the national holidays agreement may need to be adjusted from the 39 hour basis provided by those national agreements.