I'm not sure that there are any laws, maybe a recommendation? Anyway, I find 9 hours to be long enough for the children and for me. I also feel that 8 hours of work plus a 1/2 hour travel morning and afternoon makes a total of 9 hours. I'm very lucky that a few of my families only use 7-7 1/2 hours because they have it worked out that the Mom drops off and the Dad picks up or some other combination. Only one of my families is actually using close to 9 hours. In the past I had a few problems and I implemented a $5/half hour early fee, late fee or overtime fee.