Compensation and Working Time

Overtime Compensation

Under the Employment Act, Normal working hours are 8 per day and 48 per week. Any hours worked beyond forty-eight hours in a single week are considered overtime hours. Workers may be required to work overtime, provided that total working hours, inclusive of overtime, must not exceed 10 hours per day or fifty-six hours per week, except when persons are employed in shifts. It is permissible to employ shift workers in excess of ten hours in any one day or 48 hours in any one week (without paying overtime), where the average number of hours over a period of three weeks may not exceed 10 hours per day and 56 hours per week.

A child under the age of 14 cannot be employed in any business, undertaking, or workplace, except for light work performed under adult supervision and not exceeding 14 hours per week.

A child aged 15–18 who has completed education or does not attend school may work up to 7 hours per day and 35 hours per week. For children aged 15-17, overtime is strictly prohibited.

An employer is required to pay overtime at the rate of one and a half times the normal rate of pay (150% of the normal wage rate). This rate is for working overtime on normal weekdays. If workers are required to do overtime work on a gazetted public holiday, they are paid two times the rate of normal pay (200% of the normal wage rate).

The Minister may, after consultation with the Labour Advisory Board, regulate the maximum number of hours per week, including overtime work, which may be worked in any industry or occupation and may, by order, provide for temporary exceptions in extraordinary situations where the public interest so requires. However, no such order could be located. The Minimum Wages Advisory Board is empowered to recommend the minimum overtime rates of wages in respect of hours worked on any day or in any week more than the normal number of hours of work.

Source: §51(b) & 52 of the Employment Act 2006, last amended in 2023; §5 of the Minimum Wages Advisory Boards and Wages Councils Act 1964; §3, 10 & 11 of the Act on Employment of Children Regulation, 2012

Night Work Compensation

The Employment Act does not explicitly define "night work" or "night worker", however, according to the Penal Code, night or nighttime means the interval between half-past six o’clock in the evening and half-past six o’clock in the morning. There is no provision in the law that requires an employer to reduce working hours or to make a premium payment to night workers.

Source: §1 of the Penal Code of 1950, last amended in 2024

Compensatory Holidays / Rest Days

The employee is entitled to one day’s rest (agreed between parties) after working for six consecutive days. No provision could be identified in laws to require an employer to provide a compensatory rest day for working on a weekly rest day. An employer is obliged to provide a compensatory holiday with full pay to a worker who works on a public holiday.

If an employee works a full day or more on a public holiday, they must be paid extra—at least equal to their regular daily pay—or be given a paid day off instead.

Source: §50, & 53 (b) of the Employment Act 2006, last amended in 20232023; §3 of the Public Holidays Act 1965, last amended in 2023

Weekend / Public Holiday Work Compensation

If workers are required to work on a public holiday, they are entitled to 200% of the normal rate of wages within a month after public holiday. However, workers can either receive a compensatory holiday or receive higher compensation for working on a public holiday. An employee is entitled to twice the hourly rate if the overtime is worked on public holidays.

If a worker performs work for part only of a public holiday, an employer pays the proportion of the remuneration for a full day’s work on that day if that day had not been a public holiday, represented by the number of hours for which the worker has performed work. The employer is obliged to pay within one month after the public holiday.

An employee is entitled to a paid holiday or compensation in place of unused holiday in proportion to the duration of their service when the employment contract is terminated.

Moreover, the Act does not mandate a specific premium rate for rest day work unless it is overtime.

The employer who fails to comply, on conviction, may be ordered by the court to pay a sum of money to the employee in addition to the fine.

Source: §52 (8) & 53 of the Employment Act 2006, last amended in 2023, §3 of the Public Holidays Act 1965, amended in 2023