Glossary:Annual work unit (AWU)
Annual work unit (AWU) is the full-time equivalent employment, i.e. the total hours worked divided by the average annual hours worked in full-time jobs in the country. One annual work unit corresponds to the work performed by one person who is occupied on an agricultural holding on a full-time basis.
The minimum working hours for work to be considered full-time are defined in the national provisions governing contracts of employment. If these do not indicate the number of annual hours, then 1800 hours is to be taken as the minimum figure (225 working days of eight hours each).
As the volume of agricultural labour is being calculated on the basis of full-time equivalent jobs, no person can therefore represent more than one AWU. This constraint holds even if it is known that someone is working on agricultural activities for more than the number of hours defining full-time in the Member State concerned.