The change from daylight saving time to standard time and vice versa not only affects the human body, but also the length of working shifts. Employees work either one hour less or one hour more.
This Sunday, October 27, 2013, at 3 a.m., we will set our clocks back one hour. We usually get an extra hour of sleep on this day, but employees who have a night shift on this date will work an extra hour.
Although there is usually talk of switching to winter time, its introduction is actually a return to Central European Time, which is standard time for us. Summer time is the time of the eastern zone, which is used annually from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
Introduction of daylight saving time and the length of the working shift
The consequences of the introduction of daylight saving time and the issue of the length of the working shift are addressed in Government Decree No 222/2011 Coll., on the introduction of summer time between 2012 and 2016.
The beginning and end of daylight saving time from 2013 to 2016:
in 2013, daylight saving time starts on 31 March and ends on 27 October
in 2014, daylight saving time starts on 30 March and ends on 26 October
in 2015, daylight saving time starts on 29 March and ends on 25 October
In 2016, daylight saving time starts on 27 March and ends on 30 October.
Fixed weekly working hours for employees who beginning of daylight saving time falls within their working shift, if this working shift is shortened due to the introduction of daylight saving time, it is in the relevant week one hour shorter (see the provisions of Section 3(1) of the above-mentioned Government Decree).
If it falls on a work shift end of daylight saving time, is fixed weekly working hours employees working this shift due to the end of daylight saving time one hour longer (see the provisions of Section 3(2) of the above-mentioned Government Decree).
Employees working night shifts with a 40-hour work week will work 39 or 41 hours per week when the time changes. These employees do not have to work a shorter shift, while longer hours do not constitute overtime.
The time change always occurs on the night from Saturday to Sunday by moving forward from the second hour to the third hour or backward from the third hour to the second hour. For example, an employee starts his shift at 10 p.m. and leaves at 6 a.m. the next day when daylight saving time is introduced and the same when it ends.
Of course, the wage consequences of the time change apply only to night shift workers and will be different depending on whether they are paid monthly or hourly.
Employees remunerated by hourly wages
The pay of employees who work a shift during the week of the introduction or end of daylight saving time will be higher or lower than during normal weeks. For example, employees working on a continuous working pattern will receive an increase of one hourly rate in the last week of October.
Employees remunerated by monthly salary
For employees paid a fixed monthly salary whose pay is not dependent on the number of days or hours worked in a calendar month, the different number of hours worked at the time of the time change will not be reflected on the pay slip. Their monthly salary will remain the same.
