Working time has traditionally been regarded as a matter for collective bargaining or for managerial decision-making. Nowadays, three important aspects of working time are regulated by legislation. First, the Working Time Regulations 1998 seek to regulate the working time of all workers, by prescribing limits on the maximum number of hours that can be worked in the week and by requiring employers to give their workers daily and weekly rest breaks and annual holidays. Second, the law forbids discrimination against those who work part-time. Unless the employer can justify treating part-timers differently, it must give them the same benefits as full-timers. Third, the law provides various kinds of leave to enable employees to combine work and family life: maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave and emergency leave. Parents may also ask for their employer's permission to work part-time or from home or in some other way that will assist them in fulfilling their family responsibilities.

In the international human rights instruments, there is a long-standing tradition of rights to reasonable limits on working hours and to paid holidays. Such rights have been framed as basic minimum standards that are necessary to ensure that all workers are treated fairly by their employers, or sometimes as an aspect of health and safety regulation. Maternity leave is also a well-established right. It reflects the dual concerns that pregnant women might suffer discrimination in the labour market and that certain types of work might pose a health hazard to pregnant women and their babies. More recent instruments have begun to include some version of the right to ‘reconcile’ work and family life.