Abstract
Czechoslovakia was one of the first countries where eight hours of working time was enacted by the law of 19 December 1918. The paper analyzes the views of the Czech economists of the late 19th century (K.
Adámek, A. Bráf, A.
Rašín) and the beginning of the 20th century. (K. Engliš, J.
Gruber) on the legal introduction of eight-hour working hours. Discussions first led to the admissibility of regulation.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, there is no doubt about the necessity of legal regulation, and under the influence of foreign experience the individual economic and social impacts of shortening the working hours of workers are analyzed.