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Glite Dictionary
workweek

workweek

14 1.8
The number of hours or days a person must work in one week
  • noun
  • /ˈwɜrkˌwik/
translation icon : semana laboral
  • The participants were asked, given a 40-hour workweek, how much time they spent transcribing print materials into braille each week.
  • a 40-hour workweek
  • seven-day workweek

Examples

  • Many people look forward to the weekend after a long workweek filled with meetings and deadlines.

  • In the United States, for example, the average workweek has fallen by more than 40 percent in the last 100 years.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Closures for a full workweek need not be paid if no work is performed.

    Blog text (19)

  • Children of working parents may be enrolled in a daycare setting to provide appropriate care during the workweek.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The 40-hour workweek is becoming less relevant as we see more subcontractors, temps, freelancers, and self-employed individuals.

    Academic text (2012)

  • The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 established a forty-hour workweek and a time-and-a-half overtime premium for most employees.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The typical workweek in the United States consists of five days, running from Monday to Friday.

  • Due to the pandemic, many employees have adapted to a flexible workweek that allows for remote work.

Antonyms

vacation
  • US
∞ 1.0

A period away from work or study for rest and travel

time off
160 1.6

A time when you are not working, often to rest or recover

How Long

overtime
20 2.7
workweek
14 1.8
part-time
131 1.6

Surface Forms

workweek singular
workweeks plural

Morphology

workweek = work + week (transparent) = work + week

A direct compound of 'work' + 'week' meaning the working days/hours in a week, which learners can derive from the components.

Etymology

Workweek is simply the two words work and week joined together; it means the 'days or hours of work in a seven-day period'. In many countries the standard workweek became five days (about forty hours), so today the word usually means your Monday-to-Friday working time.