What is the proportion of persons in employment who regularly work in the evening or at night? Persons in employment working just occasionally at such times are not included here. The calculations are based on the respondents’ self-assessment.
Important factors for the quality of life are not only the hours worked but also the times at which people work. Evening and night work are also referred to as unusual or “atypical” working hours.
Men work more often at night than women
The proportion of persons in employment who work regularly in the evening in the last 4 weeks was 15.1%. By contrast, only 4.5% of the employed worked regularly at night. Men worked almost twice as often at night (5.8%) as women (3.1%).
| Person is working always or regularly | Self-employed with staff | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Source: Labour Force Survey. | ||
| In the evening | 32.3 | 14.1 |
| At night | 5.7 | 4.6 |
Self-employed finish work later
In 2023, 32.3% of the self-employed with employees worked regularly between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Among employees, it was only just under one in seven (14.1%). The proportion was more balanced for night work: Only 5.7% of the self-employed with employees and 4.6% of the employees earned their money while others are sleeping.
Information on the Indicator
Description or definition
Percentage of persons in employment (over 15 years) who indicate to work always or regularly in the evening or at night in all persons in employment (over 15 years).
Evening work is work performed always (= on every working day) or regularly (= regularly, but not on every working day) between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Night work is work performed always (= on every working day) or regularly (= regularly, but not on every working day) between 23 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Source
Labour Force Survey
Information for interpretation
Due to the change of the reporting period from 3 months to 4 weeks from the reporting year 2017 onwards, time series comparisons are not possible.
Self-employed work more often in the evening than employees. At night, however, employees work more often than self-employed. Therefore, these groups should be examined separately.
The microcensus with the integrated European labour force survey has been redesigned in 2020. The list of questions and the concept of the sample survey were modified, and with the introduction of an online questionnaire, the form of data collection were also changed. The results from survey year 2020 onward are therefore comparable with those of previous years only to a limited extent.
Further methodological changes affecting the results were performed in 2005, 2011 and 2021. Consequently, the results for those years can be compared with the results for previous years to a limited extent only.
The extrapolation of microcensus data uses the population figures from the 2011 Census, which was conducted as at 9 May 2011. The results have been revised from 2010 onwards. With effect from the year 2016, the sample is based on the 2011 census data. This transition affects the comparability of the results with previous years.
For more information please refer to Methods: Quality Reports and Explanations (only in German).
Further information
Redesigned microcensus as of 2020