How Many Work Hours Are in a Year?

Figuring out how many work hours are in a year helps ensure you are fairly compensated for your time while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. When employers know how many hours employees work within the year, they can assess eligibility for certain benefits, such as paid time off. Calculating hours worked often includes factors like paid time off, holidays, sick leave, and other fluctuations.

The US Office of Personnel Management estimates employees work an average of 2,087 hours per year [1]. However, the number of work hours you put in can vary depending on different factors. Discover why it’s important to know how many hours you work in a year, how to break down the numbers, and how to calculate your annual hours. 

What are work hours?

Work hours are any hours an employee must be on duty as defined by their employer. Individual employers dictate the terms of “on duty,” which may include responsibilities performed either in-office or in another specified workplace or location. 

Work hours, often called a “work day,” include the time spent completing tasks and duties necessary to perform a specific job. However, depending on the job, work hours may include other situations such as: 

• Time spent “on call” or waiting

• Overtime (may qualify for additional pay) 

• Meal breaks

• Rest periods 

• Pump breaks for nursing mothers

• Training programs or other learning opportunities

• Travel time

Some instances require employees to receive compensation for hours spent completing other non-work tasks, otherwise called hours of service. These may include: 

• Jury duty 

• Military leave 

• Incapacity or illness 

• Layoffs

• Holiday

• Vacation  

Why is it important to know your yearly work hours?

It’s important to understand the number of work hours completed annually to ensure employees are fairly compensated per Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) standards. Under the FLSA, the federal government requires employees to earn at least the minimum wage, not exceed 40 work hours a week, and receive overtime pay if work hours exceed 40 hours a week [2]. In this sense, calculating the number of work hours a year helps employers and employees determine their annual salary. 

Knowing how many work hours you have can help you maintain a healthy work-life balance and receive appropriate benefits. Some employers base employee benefits on the number of hours you work within a calendar week or month, such as paid time off for sick, vacation, and personal days. For example, a full-time employee may be defined as working 130 hours per month to receive relevant benefits.  

A breakdown of full-time work hours

The federal government does not outline specifically how many hours equal “full-time work hours.” Instead, the employer decides the number of work hours necessary to determine an employee’s full-time status. 

The IRS and federal government do, however, have some parameters for helping employers and employees set full-time hours. Under the FLSA, employees may not exceed a maximum of 40 compensable work hours in a week without receiving overtime pay, which should equate to one and a half times an employee’s pay rate. The IRS states that a full-time employee should complete at least 30 work hours per week or 130 work hours monthly to receive certain full-time benefits [3].

As a result, many employers consider full-time work to be between 30 and 40 hours a week. The breakdown of those hours varies by employer and industry. 

How many work hours in a day?

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the daily average work hours for full-time employees in the US is about 8.42 hours a day [4]. Certain factors may impact the number of hours worked in a day. Some of these factors include: 

• Level of education 

• Job type 

• Industry 

• Location 

• Age 

• Socioeconomic status

• Family or personal situation 

How many work hours in a week?

The national average weekly work hours for full-time non-government employees is 34.3 as of April 2024 [5].  

Depending on the industry and job type, the majority of full-time employees put in most of their work hours Monday through Friday rather than on Saturday and Sunday, though some positions do include weekend work. 

Age, race, gender, marital status, ethnicity, and employer may impact the number of hours you work in a week. 

How many work hours in a month?

Since national averages show full-time employees work 34.3 hours per week and each month has an average of 4.35 weeks, the national average work hours in a month is 149.21.  

As with hours worked in a day or week, calculating the number of work hours in a month is also influenced by other factors. Criteria such as the number of work days each month, public holidays, weekends, and total work hours in a year can affect this number. 

How many work hours in a year?

As an employee working a full-time schedule of about 40 hours per week, you can expect to work an average of 2,087 hours in one calendar year [1]. Since every month has a different number of days and some months include public holidays, the number of working weeks and days per month varies. 

Paid holidays and paid time off

Paid holidays and paid time off are different. Paid holidays, such as New Year's Day and the Fourth of July, are typically federally recognized. Employees might not work these days, but they can still receive pay, depending on the employer. Private companies, however, are still not legally required to give employees these days as paid holidays. The 11 days currently listed as federal holidays are [6]:

• New Year's Day

• Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday

• George Washington’s Birthday

• Memorial Day

• Juneteenth National Independence Day 

• Independence Day

• Labor Day

• Columbus Day

• Veterans Day

• Thanksgiving Day

• Christmas Day

Other paid holidays an employer might consider are Christmas Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah, Eid-al-Fitr, and state holidays.

Paid time off typically includes sick days, vacation days, and personal days. Because the federal government does not require paid time off, these days are an employee benefit rather than a requirement. Paid leave benefits may vary by years of service for jobs in both the private and government sectors.  

The average number of paid sick days in a year for the private industry in the US is seven days per year, which includes employees with up to 20 years of service with a company, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics [7]. Most private companies offer additional paid vacation days as you accrue years of service. For example, someone with one year of service earns an average of 11 vacation days per year, while someone with 20 or more years may earn upwards of 20 days of paid vacation per year [7].

Government employees typically earn more sick and vacation leave per year. Depending on their length of service, they accrue 13 to 22 paid vacation days a year [7].

To calculate paid time off and paid holidays, you can total the number of hours worked in a day by the amount of paid time off you took, including sick days, vacation, and any paid time off. For example, if you work eight hours per day and took two weeks of vacation and three sick days, you would have taken 104 work hours of paid time off during that specific calendar year. 

Why does the federal government use 2,087 hours?

The federal government uses a 2,087-hour divisor to calculate hourly, bi-weekly, and annual rates of pay for certain federal employees more accurately. This 2,087-hour calculation is the result of averaging work hours over a 28-year span to accommodate natural yearly fluctuations in work hours. Every 28 years, the calendar repeats itself, which is why it uses 28 years. 

Within a 28-year span, you can find four years with 262 workdays (2,096 hours), seven years with 260 workdays (2,080 hours), and 17 years with 261 workdays (2,088 hours). The exact equation used to come to the result of 2,087 work hours is as follows: 

(2,096 hours x 4 years) + (2,080 hours x 7 years) + (2,088 hours x 17 years) / 28 years = 2,087.14 hours 

How to calculate how many hours worked in a year

To calculate how many hours you work in a year, you first take the number of hours you work in a day and multiply that number by how many days you work in a week. The result is your weekly average of work hours. You can then multiply your weekly average by 52 to account for 52 weeks in a year.

For example, if you work eight hours a day and five days a week, your weekly average of hours worked would equate to 40. Multiply 40 by 52 to get 2,080. 

Since most employees take time off, you need to account for any paid leave. To do this, tally up all paid time off, including vacations, sick days, and personal days. Take this number and subtract it from your yearly average. 

Ensure you also calculate the number of work hours you have in a year minus holidays. Using the same example above, if an employee takes three weeks of vacation and five personal or sick days in a year, they would subtract 160 from 2,080 for an average of 1,920 work hours in that particular year.

Next steps

Understanding how many hours you work in a year can be helpful in many ways. When you know how much you work, you can better plan for personal and professional experiences and strike a better work-life balance. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance can boost your productivity both at work and at home. 

To learn more about balancing work and your personal life, consider enrolling in Macquarie University’s Build Personal Resilience course on Coursera. You can learn helpful approaches to manage stress, adapt to different situations, and reach your personal and professional goals. 

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