Workplace temperature: what the law in the UK actually requires

The warehouse is cold in winter, the back room is airless in summer, and everyone gives a different answer to "what temperature does the law require?" Here is what is true and what is shop-floor legend.

Is there a legal minimum temperature?

No. The law sets neither a minimum nor a maximum workplace temperature. That is the first thing to understand before demanding a number: there is no figure you can cite as the legal standard.

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So what does the law require?

That the temperature in an indoor workplace during working hours is reasonable. That is not a get-out: employers must follow health and safety at work law, which includes keeping the temperature comfortable and providing clean, fresh air.

Which figures are quoted, then?

Guidance gives reference points, and an argument goes better with them in hand. The minimum is 16ºC, or 13ºC where the work is physical. These are guidance figures rather than a statutory limit — but below them, an employer's claim that the temperature is "reasonable" no longer looks convincing.

Is there an upper limit?

No. Guidance sets no maximum at all. In hot weather you fall back on the same general duty of reasonableness and on the requirement to provide fresh air.

What do you do if it is too cold or too stuffy?

Raise it with your employer — that is the route set out. It is sensible to do so in writing and from several people at once: that creates a date and shows the issue is the conditions on that floor, not one cold colleague.

Base the complaint on facts rather than on how it feels: what temperature holds, at which hours, how many people work in the space, which jobs are physical and which are seated. A thermometer and readings taken over several days carry more weight than "it is freezing in here".

What else is the employer responsible for?

Alongside temperature, providing clean fresh air. It is part of the same duty, and in an unventilated room it is just as relevant as degrees are in January.

In short

There is no legal figure. There is a duty of reasonable temperature and fresh air. Guidance points to 16ºC normally and 13ºC for physical work, with no ceiling. Raise it with the employer — in writing, with readings, and preferably together.

While you are at it: breaks

The second question always raised alongside temperature is breaks — and here, unlike degrees, the rules do carry figures. A worker over 18 whose day is longer than 6 hours is entitled to one uninterrupted 20-minute break, which can be a tea or lunch break. Whether it is paid is not set by law; that depends on the employment contract.

Between working days there must be 11 hours of rest. Each week there must be an uninterrupted 24 hours without work, or an uninterrupted 48 hours every fortnight. A contract can give more than this minimum, but not less. Young workers have separate rules.

Checked against GOV.UK on 27 October 2026.