The Police Federation of England and Wales says new data reveals a widespread failure of police forces to assess whether officer are carrying unsustainable workloads, meaning some chief constables could be breaking the law.

The Federation, which represents more than 145,000 rank-and-file police officers, says the action exposes a dangerous lack of grip on fatigue, overwork and welfare. It says it will begin the process of issuing legally-backed improvement notices unless forces take urgent action.

Working Time Regulations set a maximum average working week of 48 hours over a 17-week reference period unless an individual opts out. Twenty-six forces told the Federation they could not provide basic working-time data, claiming it would take more than two days to compile because no force-wide information is held.

Surrey and Cleveland went further, both stating that they held no information relating to the question. Thirteen forces are yet to respond to the Federation’s questions. Only Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Greater Manchester Police were able to provide any data.

Over the 12-month period from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025, officers in Norfolk exceeded the 48-hour average weekly working time limit on 1,070 occasions. In Suffolk, officers did so on 1,188 occasions.

Greater Manchester Police reported recording 67,378 “Working Time Regulations exemptions” in its duty management system over the past 12 months, but said it could not determine whether those exemptions related to breaches of minimum rest, breaches of the 48-hour limit, or both, without manually reviewing every record.

John Partington, Police Federation National Secretary, said: "Working time is a frontline safety issue and a major public interest concern. If officers are routinely exhausted because excessive hours and cancelled rest days have become normal, their decision-making in life-or-death situations will be affected.

"If officer welfare means more than just lip service, this information should be at senior leaders’ fingertips. No responsible employer should need two days to work out whether its workforce is being overworked. This shows a system that has normalised excessive hours and leaves a simple question: do leaders not know, or do they not want to know?

"Forces will say this is ‘managed locally’, but if working time and fatigue risk are not visible at top level, they cannot be effectively monitored or controlled. In any other safety-critical profession, an employer that cannot evidence how long its workforce is working would be found in breach of its duties. Policing is no different."

As a result of the findings, the Federation will now begin the process of issuing Health and Safety Notices of Improvement requiring immediate corrective action. A Notice of Improvement is a formal enforcement measure used where an employer is failing in its duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of its workforce. It requires action, not assurances, and failure to comply can lead to further enforcement and legal consequences.

The Federation says the action is intended to force urgent improvements in how forces record, monitor and act on working-time risks, warning that continued blindness to officer fatigue puts officers, the public and policing itself at risk.

Further information

The Federation asked all police forces in England and Wales the following under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

1. The number of occasions on which police officers exceeded the 48-hour average weekly working time limit under the Working Time Regulations 1998.
2. For the same period, the number of occasions where management action or intervention was recorded in response.
3. The number of occasions officers breached minimum daily or weekly rest requirements.
4. The number of occasions management action was taken in response to such breaches.
5. A description of how Working Time Regulations compliance is recorded and monitored within the force.

Under UK law, police forces are employers for the purposes of health and safety legislation. Since the extension of health and safety law to policing in the late 1990s, forces have been subject to the same core duties as other employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their workforce.

Police Federation representatives are formally recognised as health and safety representatives. In that capacity, they are legally entitled to:

• Inspect workplaces and working practices
• Investigate potential hazards and risks
• Raise formal concerns with the force as employer
• Require the employer to address identified risks

Where a Federation health and safety representative identifies a failure to comply with legal duties - for example, a failure to assess, monitor or control foreseeable risks such as fatigue, excessive working hours or stress - they may issue a Health and Safety Improvement Notice.

An Improvement Notice is a formal written notice requiring the employer to remedy a specific breach of health and safety law within a defined period. It is not a symbolic or voluntary request: it is a statutory mechanism grounded in health and safety legislation.

If an Improvement Notice is not complied with, the matter can be escalated. This may include referral to the Health and Safety Executive or further enforcement action under health and safety law.