Developments in collectively agreed working time 2012

In 2012, average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union, including Croatia, stood at 38.1 hours, the same as for the EU27 in 2011. The working week was on average 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 countries and over 1 hour and 30 minutes longer in the new Member States. Agreed normal annual working time averaged nearly 1,712 hours in the European Union as a whole – 1,678 hours in the EU15 and 1,824 hours in the new Member States. Of the three sectors examined, banking recorded the shortest average agreed normal weekly working hours with 37.6 hours, although this represents an increase of 0.2 hours on 2011. In the local government sector the average was 37.8 hours and in metalworking it was 37.9 hours. When collectively agreed paid annual leave entitlements are accounted for, average annual leave stood at 25.3 days across the EU, including Croatia, being slightly higher in the EU15 countries (26.7 days) and considerably lower in the new Member States (20.8 days).