The three constraints every roster must respect
- Daily rest — at least 11 consecutive hours of rest in every 24-hour period: the constraint that most often “breaks” in tight handovers (the classic afternoon→morning sequence).
- Weekly rest — at least 24 hours every seven days, calculated as an average over the period defined by collective bargaining.
- Average working hours — no more than 48 hours per week, overtime included, as an average over the reference period; the CCNL may adjust how it is calculated.
Added to these are breaks during the shift, the specific protections for night work and the constraints of the CCNL (the national collective agreements for nursing and support staff and for medical staff) and of internal regulations: spacing between night shifts, maximum number of consecutive nights, public holidays.
What changed with Law 161/2014
For years Italy’s public healthcare sector operated under derogations on rest periods and working hours. Law 161/2014, driven by the European Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) and by an infringement procedure, repealed those derogations: from 25 November 2015, rest periods and limits apply in full to the staff of Italy’s National Health Service (SSN) as well. From that moment the question is no longer whether to respect the constraints, but how to do so with workforces under pressure.
Why manual checking does not hold up
A 30-person unit on three shifts generates thousands of combinations of sequences, swaps and absences every month: no planner can verify every rest period and every average on an annual basis by hand. And the error is not visible at planning time: it surfaces later, in a dispute or in an audit or inspection setting.
The way out: compliance by design
The ALISEO ES approach is to put the regulations inside the engine: the pre-validation checks verify rest periods, averages and CCNL constraints before the roster is published, and violations are blocking. In emergencies a derogation is possible, but it stays traceable: the exception is documented and does not become the rule. Every roster and every change are archived with full history — compliance is demonstrated with evidence, wherever you must demonstrate compliance.
→ Read more: Regulatory compliance