Overtime Calculation In UAE Calculate Hours As Per UAE Labor Law

It is no secret to any worker that works overtime can receive better compensation than standard work, whether you are a professional in your field or not, and in the United Arab Emirates, the situation is not very different from this. In this country, the overtime UAE labour law sets out all the rules related to overtime calculation in UAE, which serve as tools for employees to know how to calculate the payment.

In this article, we will provide you with a comprehensive enough guide on overtime calculation in UAE. Stay with us so that you do not lose a penny of your salary.

What does the law state about the overtime calculation in UAE?

Let us start with the basics. Under UAE overtime law, employees accrue overtime for hours worked outside of normal working hours. In this country, the regular working day legally defines as follows:

• 8 hours per day
• 48 hours per week

Or also like this:

• 9 hours per day
• 45 hours per week

This applies to all workers employed in public or private sector services. Any overtime exceeding this legislation is considered as such and, consequently, receives a different remuneration.

Because of this whole situation, it is clear that any worker who has not been paid separately for the extra hours of work he/she has performed during the week, is well within his/her rights to file a claim with the UAE ministry of labor.

The mentioned entity will investigate the situation after the claim has been filed, and if it concludes that the employee is correct, it will order the employer to pay the corresponding amount for those overtime hours.

Key rules related to the working hours in the UAE

Now that we have already grasped the basics salary related to UAE overtime calculation, let us delve into other key rules regarding the payment of these additional hours.

Generally, employers in the UAE usually pay overtime at a logically higher rate, typically around 50% more than the standard rate. In some cases, such as when employees work these hours during holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Day or Eid Al Fitr, this rate may increase even more.

Key rules related to working overtime in the UAE

In addition to everything we have already mentioned, these are some key points about the overtime calculation in UAE:

• Prior agreement: One of the most relevant points to keep in mind is that overtime working hours should be previously agreed in writing between the employee and the employer, as this establishes more transparency about the process and avoids some possible misunderstandings in the future.
• Precise details: It is of utmost importance that the agreement between the employer and the employee has specific details on the rate of pay for overtime, in addition to specifying the length of the workday and what the purpose of the overtime is.
• Rest and time off: Employers must also take into account the established rules on rest and time off during the workday, including overtime. Employees are receive a rest period of at least twelve hours after each workday.
• Employee health and integrity: This rest period is absolutely necessary to ensure the health and productivity of employees by allowing them to adequately recover from the fatigue of the workday before starting a new one.
• Accurate records: For employers it is also vitally important to keep accurate records of the hours worked by their employees, not only for the purpose of facilitating the overtime calculation in UAE, but it will also serve to comply with government regulations in case of any audits.

Understanding all of these rules on calculating overtime in the UAE is extremely important in order to foster a fair work culture and a good employer-employee relationship, as well as to ensure that employees receive fair compensation for their overtime.

How is overtime on a working day calculated?

The overtime calculation in UAE consists of a series of fairly simple steps, but you must be very precise in order to avoid mistakes that can lead to confusing misunderstandings. These are the steps you must follow:

1. Identify your regular workday: This may vary depending on whether you are a public sector worker or a private sector worker. If you are an employee in the public sector, then you should know that your workday should be around 8 hours a day, while if you are a private sector worker, your workday can be 9 hours a day but with two days off.
2. Record the number of hours worked on each working day: To achieve this you must have nothing more than the ability to be consistent. With consistency you will be able to add up the hours you work in the morning, the hours you work in the afternoon and the hours you work in the evening so that you can have a fairly accurate weekly total.
3. Subtract the number of regular work hours from your total hours for the week: The next thing to do is a basic math exercise. To the total hours you had in the week, you must subtract the number of regular hours that are in your normal work schedule, the result will be the overtime hours you work during the week.

How Overtime Works on Standard Workdays

There are certain exceptions to the overtime calculation in UAE labor law. These may be linking to workers who have a different type of contract agreed with their employer. For example:

• Shift workers: People with shift jobs can work up to 10 or 11 hours a day, totaling approximately 54 or 56 hours a week, without qualifying for overtime.
• Hourly workers: This is perhaps the most obvious example, but it does not detract from its importance to be mentioned. Hourly workers can work as many hours as they wish, so whether or not they exceed their average daily or weekly workload, that extra will not be considered overtime.
• Public service workers: There are certain public services that do not pay overtime, but still require from time to time an extra effort from their employees for the proper functioning of the service. examples of this may be the health sector or firefighters.

From Hours to Compensation

We have come to the part that probably interests you the most. How do you know how much overtime you will earn? Well, it will all become clear to you below.

There are two variations when it comes to how much you will earn from the overtime you worked during the week in the United Arab Emirates. This will depend specifically on the day you did the overtime, and is another important point to keep in mind when keeping your weekly work hour records.

Everything will be clearer for you below:

• Overtime on regular working days: If you had an overtime period on a regular working day, the overtime you had multiplies by 125% of your normal contract pay, according to the labor legislation in the UAE.
• Overtime on public holidays: Holidays are significantly more remunerated than regular UAE working hours. If you worked overtime on a public holiday, you must multiply these hours by 200% of the regular hourly wage of your contract, also according to the labor legislation in the UAE.

Fair and Square Explaining Overtime Calculations on Regular Workdays

You may already know all you need to know about how its the overtime calculation in UAE. However, we also want to offer you some additional tips so that you do not have to worry about making these annoying calculations and thus keep your productivity intact.

We are in an era where technology is in everything around us, and this task does not have to be the exception to the rule. There are different tools that could help you in the process of overtime calculation in UAE, and here we will mention some of them:

• Time management software: One of the best options you will have at your disposal is some time management software. These types of applications can make your life easier by allowing you to clock in and out of work digitally. There are even some apps that allow you to see at any time of the day the total overtime you have worked during the week, so you can see how much extra money you have made.
• Mobile apps: Not everything has to be from your computer. In addition to time management software, there are many similar apps for cell phones. Having this tool at hand all the time will make it possible for you to successfully record your work schedules at the touch of a finger.

That is all for today, we hope this information has been useful to you to know exactly how much you can charge for those extra hours you worked during the week. If you want to learn more about this and other topics, you can go to our insights section now!