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arbeidstijd vs. werktijd

English translation: working day, working times

03:18 Nov 11, 2008
Dutch to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Human Resources
Dutch term or phrase: arbeidstijd vs. werktijd
a. arbeidsduur: het aantal uren dat de werknemer per week of per dag werkt met uitzondering van overwerk;
b. arbeidstijd: de tijdstippen waarbinnen de werknemer arbeid verricht;
c. werktijden: de tijdstippen van aanvang en beëindiging van de arbeid;
I'm finding little consistency in the way these terms are handled on the Net and in dicts. Any ideas or good resources? I hope I'm not in breach of the one-term-per-question rule here. In this case, they really go better together, I think.
Manuel Maduro
Local time: 13:39
English translation:working day, working times
Explanation:
As these are artificial definitions (i.e. they are non-intuitive; intuitively, they are synonyms) for use only in a specific, limited context, I think you are fairly free to choose any terms that approximate the intended meaning and work effectively in the text as a whole. From the available info, I would suggest something along the lines of arbeidstijd = working day and werktijd - working times. E.g.:

b. working day: the period of time in which the employee works;
c. working times: the start and end times of the work;


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Note added at 11 hrs (2008-11-11 14:39:45 GMT)
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Manuel, you need to find out from your client what the terms actually mean. The definitions are so poorly formulated, the meanings could be argued either way. Anything else is guesswork.
Selected response from:

Chris Hopley
Netherlands
Local time: 19:39
Grading comment
Thanks again!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4working day, working times
Chris Hopley
4working window / working hours
Albert Stufkens
3employment period vs. work hours
fhzwiers


  

Answers


6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
arbeidstijd, werktijd
working day, working times


Explanation:
As these are artificial definitions (i.e. they are non-intuitive; intuitively, they are synonyms) for use only in a specific, limited context, I think you are fairly free to choose any terms that approximate the intended meaning and work effectively in the text as a whole. From the available info, I would suggest something along the lines of arbeidstijd = working day and werktijd - working times. E.g.:

b. working day: the period of time in which the employee works;
c. working times: the start and end times of the work;


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2008-11-11 14:39:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Manuel, you need to find out from your client what the terms actually mean. The definitions are so poorly formulated, the meanings could be argued either way. Anything else is guesswork.

Chris Hopley
Netherlands
Local time: 19:39
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 55
Grading comment
Thanks again!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Actually, I liked the original suggestion. Only, maybe, instead of "working day," I could use "workday." How does that sound to you?

Asker: And then, maybe, by a slight modification, c could be "workday times". How about that?

Asker: No, wait a minute! Isn't b supposed to be the actual time worked? (I think I'm posting too quickly. I know, this is not a chat room.)

Asker: Yep, I'm pretty sure that's it. b. time worked, c. working times. (sigh)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ken Cox: Agree with your general comments. As 'working day' and 'working hours' have well-established meanings in (NA) English, 'actual working hours' might be used here for 'arbeidstijd' and 'nominal working hours' for 'werktijden'.
57 mins
  -> Useful info, Ken. Might indeed be a better option. :-)
agree  Siobhan Schoonhoff-Reilly: with Ken.
1 hr
agree  Robert Kleemaier
5 hrs
agree  jarry (X): and with Ken's useful comments
10 hrs
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1 day 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
employment period vs. work hours


Explanation:
What I understand is that "arbeidstijd" can refer to the larger period of time worked at a firm, thus "employment period". During a given day there are a number of hours that indicate the "werktijd", therefore the "work hours" of an employee.

fhzwiers
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in AfrikaansAfrikaans
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1 day 7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
working window / working hours


Explanation:
Strictly speaking the definitions for both terms overlap.
Nevertheless, I get the impression that 'arbeidstijd' refers to a period, whereas 'werktijd' refers to the moment when a worker actually has to clock in and out.

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Note added at 1 day7 hrs (2008-11-12 10:47:36 GMT)
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See also: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english_to_dutch/tech_engineering/...

Albert Stufkens
Netherlands
Local time: 19:39
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in DutchDutch, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
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