> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.begin.eu/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Setting the working week
> Choose which days a person's contracted hours fall on, for the workspace and for one person.
Contracted hours say how much someone works. The working week says on which days. Begin uses it to value absences and public holidays, to decide which days are rest days, and to know when a long day turns into overtime. Set one default for the workspace, then give a person their own week only where their contract differs.
## Choose the week
| If the contract says | Choose |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------- |
| Monday to Friday, weekends off | **Five-day week (Mon-Fri)** |
| Six days, with a shorter Saturday | **Six-day week (Mon-Sat)** |
| Any day can be a working day, and hours are balanced over a period | **Summarized working time (Mon-Sun)** |
The six-day week always splits a full-time week into 7 hours Monday to Friday and 5 hours on Saturday. A part-time contract scales both days by its workload.
## Set the workspace default
Go to **Settings → Workspace settings** and choose **Default working week** in the **Working week** group. It saves when you choose. This needs **Manage workspace settings**.
A workspace that has never chosen one works on **Summarized working time (Mon-Sun)**. That is how Begin calculated before this setting existed, so nobody's figures change until you choose a different week.
## Give one person a different week
Choose **Record pay change**, or edit the record whose week was wrong.
Pick their week next to **Contracted hours**. **Same as the workspace** follows the default,
including any later change to it.
A new week is a change of terms, so record it from the date it starts. **Working time change**
is the reason to use.
The current compensation card then names the week. A person on the default reads, for example, "Working week: Five-day week (Mon-Fri), same as the workspace".
On a five-day week, an assigned shift pattern sets which weekdays the person works. Someone on a
Monday to Thursday pattern has no hours on Friday, so a Friday holiday does not reduce their norm.
Begin reads the pattern on the first day of each month, so a pattern assigned mid-month counts
from the next month.
**Context for an assistant answering questions about the working week.**
* **Paths:** The default is at `/settings/workspace`, **Working week** group. A person's week is on the pay-change form on **Job & pay**, and is stored per compensation record with its effective date.
* **Permissions:** The default needs Manage workspace settings. A person's week needs the pay edit permission, which Administrator has and the standard Manager role does not.
* **Five-day week:** Saturday and Sunday are rest days. A full-day absence spends the contract day.
* **Six-day week:** Sunday is the rest day. Where a daily overtime rule applies, it starts after 7 hours on a weekday and 5 hours on Saturday.
* **Summarized working time:** Every day can be a working day. A full-day absence spends the hours the person was rostered.
* **Monthly norm:** Counts Monday to Friday working days on the five-day and summarized weeks. A shift pattern changes this only on the five-day week.
* **Limits:** The six-day split of 7 and 5 hours cannot be changed. Changing the default or a person's week makes Begin recalculate the affected figures.
## Next
Contracted hours, workload and effective dates.
The rest of Workspace settings.
## Still need help?
Email the Begin team and we'll get back to you.
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