What is the proportion of persons in employment who regularly work on Saturdays or on Sundays? 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. Weekend work is also referred to as unusual or “atypical” working hours.
The end of the weekend?
More and more people worked not only during the week, but also on weekends. In 2023, the proportion of persons in employment working on Saturdays was 17.7%. The proportion of Sunday workers was 9.3%. Many persons who work on Sundays also work on Saturdays. 8.3% of employed work always or regularly on both days of the weekend.
| Person is working continuously or regulary | Self-employed with staff | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Source: Labour Force Survey. | ||
| On Saturdays | 44.0 | 15.9 |
| On Sundays | 20.8 | 8.5 |
| On Saturdays and on Sundays | 19.9 | 7.5 |
Especially self-employed work at weekends
In 2023 44.0% of the self-employed with staff worked on Saturdays, compared with 15.9% of the employees. Although considerably fewer people work on Sundays, similar differences were observed here: Every fifth self-employed person was also on duty on Sundays (20.8%), while this was the case for only one of thirteen employees (7.5%).
Information on the Indicator
Description or definition
Percentage of persons in employment (over 15 years) who indicate to work always or regularly on Saturdays or on Sundays in all persons in employment (over 15 years).
Saturday work is work performed always (= on every Saturday) or regularly (= regularly, but not on every Saturday) on Saturdays.
Sunday work is work performed always (= on every Sunday) or regularly (= regularly, but not on every Sunday) on Sundays.
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 on Saturdays and Sundays than employees. 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