Average weekly hours worked on the main job in Poland 2000-2020

Over the period observed, the weekly average working time fell by a total of 0.5 hours, peaking at 40.3 weekly working hours in 2002 and reaching 39.6 hours in 2020.

How much do Poles work?

Poles have the average duration of working life in the European Union, working 33.6 years on average. For comparison, the EU average amounted to 35.7 years. However, they are among the busier nations in Europe, working an average of nearly 41 hours per week. In 2020, all countries in the region, except Lithuania, worked a minimum of three hours more per week than the average for the 27 countries of the European Union. The longest annual working hours were in Hungary and Poland, with 1,848 hours, when the EU average amounted to 1,703 hours. In 2021, 63 percent of Poles worked 7-8 hours a day, while 21 percent worked even 10 hours a day or longer.
In the third quarter of 2021, the average number of hours worked in the primary job in Poland amounted to nearly 41 hours per week. In that period, persons employed in the private sector worked over two hours longer than in the public sector. Poles spent the most time working in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry, over 45 hours per week.

Accidents at work

In 2020, more than 62.7 thousand people were reported injured in accidents at work (24.6 percent less than in 2019), of which 190 people were fatally injured. The decrease in the number of people injured was influenced by the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In many areas, restrictions were imposed, and where the nature of the work allowed it, employers directed their employees to work remotely. In 2020, as in previous years, accidents were most common among men and those between 30 and 49 years.
More than half of the causes of accidents at work were improper behavior of the employee (60.8 percent of all causes). A worker's failure to use protective equipment was the least common cause of accidents. In 2020, among those injured in occupational accidents, 46.5 percent suffered wounds and superficial injuries, 24.3 percent dislocations, sprains, twists, and strains, and 18.6 percent bone fractures. Considering the location of the injury, injured persons most often suffered injuries to the extremities.