werkweken

Werkweken is a Dutch term that refers to units of time measured in weeks spent on work-related activities. It is commonly used in the Netherlands and Flanders in education, training, and project planning to express the duration of work-based tasks without counting calendar days. The exact number of hours contained in a werkweek can vary by sector, contract, or collective labor agreements, but it generally aligns with a standard working week.

In education and training, werkweken describe the length of practical experience, internships, or work-based learning components of a program. A degree or vocational course may require a student to complete a specified number of werkweken, sometimes referred to as internship weeks or stageweeks. This helps structure the practical portion of a curriculum and provides a clear timeline for employers and students.

In project management and human resources, werkweken are used as planning units to estimate and schedule workload. By expressing duration in weeks rather than hours or days, teams can account for staggered work, holidays, and variable staffing more easily. A task estimated at, for example, six werkweken implies six weeks of work time in the standard working week, adjusted for holidays and leave as needed.

Overall, werkweken function as a practical, planning-oriented measure of duration for work-related activities, complementing other time units such as hours and calendar weeks.