The text below is copied word for word from Publications Office of the European Union, EUR-Lex, as it read on 18 October 2026.
Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that, per each seven-day period, every worker is entitled to a minimum uninterrupted rest period of 24 hours plus the 11 hours' daily rest referred to in Article 3.
If objective, technical or work organisation conditions so justify, a minimum rest period of 24 hours may be applied.
This is the text of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time as it stood on 18 October 2026 (checked by Omnikit on 18 October 2026). It may have changed since; the current text is at EUR-Lex.