Overtime In The UAE: How It Works

The nature of many jobs often requires an employee to work over time. Whether or not an employee will be entitled to overtime (as well as the applicable rate) under Federal Law No 8 of 1980 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law) is often an intricate issue, and depends on the role of the employee, the time the overtime is completed and the working time system the company has in place.

Normal working hours

Under the UAE Labour Law, an employee's normal working day should not exceed 8 hours. An employer is also able to request an employee to perform up to 2 hours of additional work which will be treated as overtime. In return for working the additional 2 hours, the employee is entitled to overtime pay equivalent to the wage paid during ordinary working hours plus an additional amount of not less than 25% of the total remuneration (i.e. basic salary plus allowances) for the overtime period. However, if the overtime falls between the hours