Business hours are the hours during the day in which

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

is commonly conducted. Typical business hours vary widely by country. By observing common informal standards for business hours, workers may communicate with each other more easily and find a convenient divide between work life and home life. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the hours between 9 am and 5 pm (the traditional " 9 to 5") are typically considered to be standard business hours. However, U.S. governmental agencies typically operate between the hours of 7:00am and 3:00pm. As one employee put it: “There’s nothing more standard than the government.” The topic of standard hours is hotly debated in modern times. In

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, government agencies and other institutions follow the hours 8:00am to 4:15pm. Banks are usually open to 4:30pm. Common business is done from Monday to Friday, but major shops are usually open on Saturdays 9:00am – 6:00pm and on Sundays 12:00pm – 9:00pm, with exceptions. In

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, the standard business hours are from 7 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 6 pm. (At least in Mexico City most offices open between 8 and 10 am and close around 6 or 7 pm. Some offices close early on Friday. Many offices have their employees work Saturdays until lunch time (usually 2 pm). Other countries have different business hour patterns. Many workers in warmer climates observe

siesta A ''siesta'' (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The ...

during the afternoon, between 2 pm and 5 pm, effecting a pause in business hours, and resuming business in the evenings. ''La siesta'' is a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

term which refers to a short nap of 15–30 minutes. Business hours usually occur on

weekdays The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of t ...

. However, the days of the week on which business is conducted also varies from region to region in the world.

Non-traditional business hours

Many businesses and organizations have extended or unlimited business hours if their business takes place continuously. For example,

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

s, and

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

s are open 24 hours a day, and transactions can take place at any point in time, thus requiring staffing and management availability at all times. Recent communications technology such as

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s has also extended the working day.

Restrictions

In some jurisdictions, legislation or regulations may require businesses to limit their trading hours. For example, some Western countries prohibit certain businesses from trading on

Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s. The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...

, this being considered a day of rest in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Businesses which serve hot food or

alcoholic drinks An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

are also frequently restricted in their trading hours.

By country

Greece

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, business hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are usually from 9 am to 3 pm, while on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are usually from 9 am to 2 pm and after the siesta from 5.30 pm to 9 pm. Large stores and supermarkets follow an extended business hours schedule and are open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 9 pm and on Saturdays from 9 am to 8 pm. All stores are normally closed on Sundays, but there are several exceptions throughout the year. Banking and civil services hours are usually Monday to Friday from 8 am to 2 pm, with minor variations but are always closed at weekends. All stores and offices are closed on public holidays.

United States

In the

, the U.S. Department of Labor has mandated that companies must pay

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

to individuals who work over 40 hours a week. Businesses often do not schedule their employees to work more than 40 hours per week because they want to avoid paying their employees overtime.

References