Can my employer pay me the same rate for a night shift?
No. Night is paid differently — and the law splits it into two tiers. Every hour from 19:00 to 22:00 carries a premium of no less than 20%. Every hour from 22:00 to 06:00 — night work in the legal sense — carries a premium of no less than 50% on the relevant pay. That is where the myth sits: many workers believe “the 50% applies to the whole second shift”. It does not. If your shift starts at 17:00, the hours to 19:00 carry no night premium at all, the hours from 19:00 to 22:00 carry 20%, and only from 22:00 does 50% begin. The law does not count shifts — it counts hours. Protection comes with the pay: night work and adjoining day work must not exceed 8 uninterrupted hours, and daily rest is at least 11 hours.
📋 The rules
- The Labour Code defines night work as work performed from 22:00 to 06:00.
- Every hour from 19:00 to 22:00 is paid with a premium of no less than 20%.
- Every hour from 22:00 to 06:00 is paid with a premium of no less than 50%.
- Night work and the day work performed immediately before or after it must not exceed 8 uninterrupted hours, and must be followed immediately by daily rest.
- Daily rest is at least 11 uninterrupted hours within the day or, where necessary, spread across 2 consecutive days.
🔓 Exceptions
- Night work is prohibited for pregnant women; protections for minors and vulnerable groups are stricter still.
- In teleworking, where the employee genuinely sets their own schedule, the night premium does not arise automatically — what matters is who organised the working time.
- An individual or collective agreement may set a premium higher than 20% or 50%, but it cannot reduce the statutory minimum.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
The employee can claim the shortfall for every unpaid hour — and the counting is done hour by hour, not shift by shift. Failure to respect the night-work limit and daily rest can also draw a measure from the Labour Inspectorate, on top of the pay claim. The quietest risk here is a linguistic one: “second shift” and “night work” are used interchangeably in everyday speech, but the law separates them cleanly. Accept a payslip that treats the whole shift as 50% night work — or, more often, as no night work at all — and you may lose precisely the hours the statute protects.
📎 Official sources
- QBZ · consolidated Labour Code (official legislation register) →
- State Labour Inspectorate · official site (employer obligations) →
- President of the Republic · official site (text of the Labour Code) →
❓ Frequently asked
Does the 50% premium cover the whole second shift?
No. The 20% minimum applies to the hours from 19:00 to 22:00, while the 50% minimum begins only at 22:00 and ends at 06:00. The law counts hours rather than shift labels, so one shift can carry two rates.
What legally counts as “night work”?
The Labour Code defines night work as work performed from 22:00 to 06:00. The hours from 19:00 to 22:00 are not night work in the legal sense, but they carry their own separate premium of at least 20%.
How much rest am I owed after a night shift?
Daily rest is at least 11 uninterrupted hours within the day, and it must follow the shift immediately. Where necessary it may be organised across 2 consecutive days, but it cannot simply be dropped.
I work from home at night. Do I get the premium?
In teleworking, where the employee genuinely manages their own schedule, the night premium does not arise automatically. What matters is who organised the working time.
Can I work nights while pregnant?
No, night work is expressly prohibited for pregnant women. Protections for minors and for vulnerable groups are stricter still, so a request from the employer does not make a night shift lawful.
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