Prison Officer Working Hours: Contract, Limits and Overtime

In shortThe headline is a range, not a single figure: trainees start on 37 hours and can choose 39 or 41 once training is complete.

• 37 hours45%Of Band 3 staff, 31 July 2025
• 39h with 2 ACH29%Two additional committed hours
• 39h with 2 ACHP15%Two pensionable additional committed hours
• 41 hours9%No more than 1% on 38 or 40

HMPPS says all trainee prison officers start on a 37-hour contract and that once training is complete you can choose to increase it to 39 or 41 hours a week. The Pay Review Body's pay tables also include 38 and 40 hour options for Band 3.

The careers page describes a rolling pattern of 39 hours but adds that your salary will reflect the number of hours you work, 37, 39 or 41.

So a majority had chosen extra contracted hours, but a large minority had not. The pay maths for each choice is in our 37, 39 and 41 hours guide, which this guide does not repeat.

In shortA 41-hour contract is about 181 more working hours a year than 37: our illustration, not an HMPPS formula.

• 37h contractAbout 1,929 hoursA year, before leave (52.14 weeks)
• 39h contractAbout 2,034 hoursA year, before leave
• 41h contractAbout 2,138 hoursA year, before leave
• 41h versus 37hAbout 181 hoursRoughly four and a half extra 40-hour weeks, or about 15 additional 12-hour shifts

Those are paid hours before leave. HMPPS says new employees get 25 days' annual leave rising to 30 after 10 years' service, plus eight public holidays and one privilege day, which is 34 days at the start and 39 at the top.

On a simple five-day division, a day is a fifth of the weekly hours, so 34 days is 251.6 hours at 37h, 265.2 at 39h and 278.8 at 41h.

• Time at work implied in your first years: about 1,678 hours on 37h, 1,768 on 39h and 1,859 on 41h.
• At the top of the leave scale, about 37 fewer hours again.
• The Employee Package does not say how leave days convert to hours on a shift roster, and sickness, TOIL, training and Payment Plus all move the real number.

In shortRegulation 21 disapplies several Working Time Regulations limits for prisons, but not the 48-hour weekly limit or night-worker health assessments.

The Working Time Regulations 1998 set limits that apply to most workers. GOV.UK lists the armed forces, emergency services and police among jobs where staffing is 24-hour and the limits can be exceeded. Prisons are not in that list, but regulation 21 contains a separate special case that names them.

• A 48-hour average weekly limit (normally over 17 weeks, with an opt-out)
• 11 hours' daily rest and a weekly rest period
• A 20-minute break on a day longer than six hours
• For night workers, an average limit of eight hours in 24

In shortBands 3 to 5 get no ordinary overtime: extra hours are paid through Payment Plus at £23 an hour for qualifying duties, or banked as TOIL.

• Payment Plus£23 an hourFrom 1 April 2026; non-consolidated, non-pensionable
• TOIL owed (31 March 2025)328,923 hoursOfficer and support grades
• TOIL owed (September 2025)361,234 hoursAn increase of 32,311 hours in six months

The Pay Review Body describes Payment Plus as a non-consolidated, non-pensionable flat cash payment, paid for specific operational duties and the only overtime-type payment available to Bands 3 to 5. Staff are only paid it on a non-working day or for hours outside their scheduled shift pattern, and only for a qualifying duty.

An officer scheduled to work until 17:00 would be paid only for hours after that if undertaking a qualifying duty. HMPPS's list of qualifying duties was not in the sources we found.

Time off in lieu (TOIL)

The Employee Package says staff who work more than their conditioned hours can normally opt between Payment Plus, where hours are available, and TOIL, and that banked hours do not expire and can be gained or taken at any time in year.

TOIL as a debt

The Pay Review Body treats TOIL as a debt HMPPS owes its staff. It said it wants staff to be able to take the time they are entitled to, because working longer hours indefinitely can hurt health, motivation and morale.

In shortHours are shaped by staffing as well as contracts: HMPPS was about 1,500 staff below target in 2026 and still relied on Payment Plus, detached duty and unused TOIL.

• Non-effective staff assumption20% to 24%Staff off sick, on maternity or paternity leave or in training
• Further staff neededAround 450If the new resourcing model is implemented in full
• Below target staffingAround 1,500Staff, in 2026
• Sickness13.2 daysAverage working days lost, up from 11.9; Band 3 and 4 officers highest at 14.0

HMPPS told the Pay Review Body that its staffing model's assumption for 'non-effective' staff was being increased from 20% to 24%. The Pay Review Body said there was still reliance on Payment Plus, detached duty and unused time off in lieu.

Sickness figures are for the year to 30 September 2025. The Pay Review Body commented that high levels of overtime, TOIL and temporary promotion might have a direct relationship with absence, and said an analysis would be beneficial. We are not claiming a causal link, only noting that the regulator itself flagged the possibility.

In shortOperational managers report hours well beyond their 37-hour contract, so treat the hours question as part of any promotion decision.

The Pay Review Body's staff visits in 2026 recorded that operational managers again said their hours worked were well in excess of their 37-hour contract, which affected their and their families' wellbeing.

Required Hours Addition (RHA)

A 20% allowance for Bands 6 to 11 for roles requiring regular unpredictable and unsocial hours and being on call. Band 12 does not receive it. The Prison Governors' Association has asked for compensation for the loss of the ability to work flexibly compared with non-operational colleagues, and for recognition of how often managers are on call.

On-call allowance

HMPPS's evidence says governors may authorise an on-call allowance for staff outside Bands 6 to 11 and Band 12 who have a rostered commitment to remain continuously and immediately available for more than 12 hours for operational reasons. We cover the details in our pay guides rather than here.

In shortA simple monthly routine of noting shifts, checking your payslip and reconciling TOIL prevents most hours disputes.

Most hours disputes begin as an arithmetic difference between what you think you worked, what the roster says and what pay or TOIL shows. A simple routine prevents most of them. The payslip guide shows what each line means, and the shift pattern earnings planner can model the rostered month.

1. Note your contract hours (37, 39 or 41) and whether any additional hours are ACH or ACHP on your contract letter.
2. Keep a monthly record of rostered shifts, actual finish times and any overrun, and what happened to each (TOIL, Payment Plus or nothing).
3. Check your payslip: contracted pay, UWH, any Payment Plus and any supplement should be separate lines.
4. Reconcile your TOIL balance every month against the system and ask how to book time off.
5. If you believe your hours or rest are being breached, ask your POA representative first, then HR; take legal advice if unresolved.
6. Before changing contract hours or moving prison, ask in writing how leave, TOIL and the roster will change.

In shortThe 37, 39 and 41 hour structure is for England and Wales; weekly hours could not be verified for Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Scotland

The Scottish Prison Service says Residential Officers work shifts on a roster covering day, back and night shifts depending on the establishment, but its careers page does not give a weekly hours figure, and we did not find one on the other SPS pages we read. See our guide on Scotland.

Northern Ireland

We could not verify weekly hours or overtime arrangements for the Northern Ireland Prison Service. See our guide on Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has its own working time regulations, which we have not reviewed.

Working Time Regulations 1998

Apply across Great Britain, and regulation 21's special case applies in the same way in England, Wales and Scotland as written.