Guide
Weekly rest planning: regular, reduced and the compensation rule
Updated
Weekly rest is where rosters most often go wrong, because the rules constrain the pattern across three weeks, not just one.
The three constraints on every roster
- Timing: a weekly rest must begin no later than the end of six consecutive 24-hour periods from the end of the previous weekly rest. Six working days, then rest, whatever the calendar says.
- Pattern: in any two consecutive fixed weeks the driver needs at least two regular weekly rests, or one regular and one reduced (a regular rest being 45 hours or more). Extra weekly rests of either type may be taken on top of that minimum, so two reduced rests can fall back to back and still comply, provided the two-week window also contains a regular one, as DVSA's worked examples show.
- Compensation: whatever a reduced rest (24 to under 45 hours) shaves off must be repaid in one block, attached to another rest of at least 9 hours, before the end of the third week after the reduction (gov.uk/drivers-hours).
A worked pattern
| Week | Weekly rest taken | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 45h (regular) | Baseline |
| Week 2 | 30h (reduced) | 15h owed; the fortnight still contains one regular rest |
| Week 3 | 45h (regular) + 15h compensation attached | Debt cleared inside the deadline (end of week 5 at the latest) |
Operator-side points the rules don't spell out
- Schedule the compensation explicitly on the roster; leaving it to 'a long weekend eventually' is how the debt gets missed and found at audit.
- Regular weekly rest cannot lawfully be taken in the vehicle. Reduced rest away from base can be, provided the vehicle is stationary and has suitable sleeping facilities.
- Traffic examiners read rest patterns across the full 28 days of data, so a reduction compensated late is still an infringement even if the total hours look right.
Rest planning and driving capacity interact: a rest taken late compresses the driving days around it. Use the planner to see what the driving caps leave once the rest pattern is fixed.