UAE overtime and working hours: 25 per cent by day, 50 per cent at night, and a 144-hour cap that does not reconcile with the 48-hour week

Legal information, not legal advice. Mohamy.ai is not a law firm and is not licensed to practise law or to provide legal consultancy in the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Egypt. This page describes the law of the United Arab Emirates in general terms as it stood on 21 August 2026. It is not advice about your situation. Before you act, and especially if a deadline may be running, consult a lawyer licensed in the United Arab Emirates.

Your normal working hours are a maximum of 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week. Overtime is capped at two hours a day, and it pays the wage for the corresponding normal hours calculated on the basic wage plus not less than 25 per cent, rising to plus not less than 50 per cent for overtime worked between 10pm and 4am. Those are Articles 17(1) and 19 of Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021.

And there is a genuine tension in the text that we are going to show you rather than smooth over. Article 19(1) also provides that "the total working hours shall not exceed (144) one hundred and forty four hours every (3) three weeks". But 48 hours a week times three weeks is exactly 144 hours. So on a literal reading, a worker already at the statutory weekly maximum has no room for any overtime at all under the 144-hour cap. The same 144 figure is repeated in Cabinet Resolution No. (1) of 2022 Article 15(3). FACT: both figures are in the text. UNVERIFIED: how they reconcile. Anyone who tells you confidently how those two provisions fit together is telling you their view, not the statute's.

Three further things on this page:

1. Shift workers are excluded from the night rate, and only from the night rate. Article 19(3) excludes them from clause 3, not from clause 2. Section 2.
2. Working your weekend pays the day's wage plus not less than 50 per cent of the basic wage for that day, or a substitute day off, and you cannot be made to work more than two consecutive weekend days. Article 19(4) and 19(5). Section 3.
3. Ramadan hours are reduced by two, and that is in the Resolution rather than the Decree-Law. Cabinet Resolution Article 15(2). Section 4.

Scope, stated once. UAE federal onshore private sector. Not the DIFC. Not the ADGM.

1. The hours, quoted

Article 17(1), verbatim from MOHRE's own English:

1. The maximum normal working hours for workers shall be (8) eight hours per day or (48) forty-eight hours per week.

"Or", not "and". Eight hours a day or forty-eight a week. The rest of Article 17 then does four more things worth knowing:

• Clause 2: the Cabinet may increase or reduce the daily working hours for some economic sectors or categories of workers.
• Clause 3: commuting time between residence and workplace is not counted in working hours, except for some categories specified in the Implementing Regulation.
• Clause 5: where the worker works on a pattern other than full time, no employer may ask them to work more than the hours agreed in the contract, except with the worker's written consent.
• Clause 6: where the worker performs work remotely, inside or outside the State, with the employer's approval, the employer may require specific working hours.

And Cabinet Resolution Article 15(1) puts three exceptions on the commuting rule, which is a genuinely useful provision that almost nobody quotes:

1. The periods spent by the worker commuting between his place of residence and the workplace shall be counted within the working hours in the following cases: a. Any delay to the worker in transit in case of bad weather and in response to the warnings of the National Centre of Meteorology regarding weather changes and fluctuations. b. Any delay of the worker in transit in employer-provided transportation in the event of a traffic accident or an emergency breakdown. c. If the parties expressly agree thereon in the contract.

So commuting time is not working time by default, and it becomes working time in three defined cases, one of which is simply that your contract says so.

Breaks. Article 18: the worker may not work for more than five consecutive hours without a break or breaks of not less than an hour in total, provided that these periods are not included in the working hours. Note that last clause: the break is not counted as working time. Egypt handles this differently: Article 119 of the Labour Law annexed to Law No. 14 of 2025 counts the rest period within the hours of presence where the worker is at the place of work, and the UAE has no presence cap at all. Do not carry an answer across that border.

The weekly rest. Article 21: the worker is granted a paid weekend of not less than one day, according to the employment contract or the work regulation, and the Cabinet may increase it.

And exclusions. Article 20 leaves the excluded categories to the Implementing Regulation, and Cabinet Resolution Article 15(4) lists them:

4. The following categories shall be exempted from the provisions relating to the maximum working hours: a. The chairpersons and members of the boards of directors. b. The persons occupying supervisory positions if such positions grant them the authority of the employer. c. The crews of naval vessels and the seafarers who enjoy special service conditions due to the nature of their work. d. Those engaged in work which is required by reasons of technical nature to be carried on continuously by a succession shift, subject to the condition that the average working hours do not exceed (56) hours per week. e. Preparatory or supplementary work that must necessarily be carried out outside the general time limits set for work in the establishment.

Read (b) carefully, because it is the one used most and misused most. A supervisory position is exempt only if it grants the holder the authority of the employer. A job title with "manager" in it does not, on the face of the text, satisfy that condition. And note (d) has its own numeric limit: an average not exceeding 56 hours a week.

2. The overtime rates, and the arithmetic

Article 19, verbatim:

1. The employer may instruct the worker to work overtime over the normal working hours, provided that they do not exceed two hours per day. The worker may not be instructed to work for more than that period, except in accordance with the conditions and rules specified by the Implementing Regulation hereof. In all cases, the total working hours shall not exceed (144) one hundred and forty four hours every (3) three weeks. 2. If the work conditions necessitate that the worker works for more than the normal working hours, the excess period shall represent overtime, for which the worker shall receive a wage equal to the wage corresponding to the normal working hours, which is calculated according to the basic wage plus an increase of not less than (25 %) twenty five percent of that wage. 3. If the work conditions require that the worker works overtime between 10 pm and 4 am, the worker shall be entitled, regarding the overtime, to receive the wage prescribed for the normal working hours calculated according to the basic wage plus an increase of not less than (50 %) fifty percent of that wage. The workers working based on shifts shall be excluded from this clause. 4. If the circumstances require that the worker works on the weekend specified in the employment contract or work regulation, he shall be compensated with another day off or he shall be paid the wage of that day according to the wage established for normal working days, plus an increase of not less than (50 %) fifty percent of the basic wage for that day. 5. A worker shall not be instructed to work for more than two consecutive weekend days, except for day workers.

And the two-hour daily cap has a defined exception, which lives in the Resolution and not in the Decree-Law. Article 19(1) says the worker may not be instructed to work beyond two hours "except in accordance with the conditions and rules specified by the Implementing Regulation", and Cabinet Resolution No. (1) of 2022 Article 15(3) is the provision that fills that gap. Verbatim:

3. The employer may instruct the worker to work overtime over the normal working hours, provided that the overtime does not exceed two hours per day unless the work is necessary to prevent the occurrence of a serious loss or a serious accident or to eliminate or mitigate the effects thereof. In any case, the total working hours shall not exceed (144) one hundred and forty-four hours every (3) three weeks.

So the two-hour cap is not absolute: the one stated route past it is that emergency ground, preventing a serious loss or a serious accident, or eliminating or mitigating its effects. And note where that exception lives. It is in the Cabinet Resolution, and we do not hold the Arabic of the Cabinet Resolution in any form, so everything on this page about it comes from the Ministry's English, which the Ministry itself disclaims.

The base is the basic wage, which clauses 2 and 3 say expressly, and which clause 4 says expressly for the uplift. That is the smaller of the two Article 1 numbers. Compare the notice period allowance under Article 43(4), which uses the last wage. Two different bases in the same statute.

Worked example. Monthly basic wage AED 9,000. Two hours of overtime from 19:00 to 21:00, and separately two hours from 23:00 to 01:00.

• The divisor, and this is where honesty matters. Article 67 gives a thirty-day month. Article 17(1) gives an eight-hour day. Their product is 240 hours a month, which is arithmetic from two provisions. But there is a second chain, and it is just as statutory. Article 17(1) fixes normal working hours at 48 a week, and Article 19(2) measures overtime by "the wage corresponding to the normal working hours", which is a measure of hours worked. 48 x 52 / 12 = 208 hours a month, exactly. So the first divisor comes from Article 67's thirty-day month times Article 17(1)'s eight-hour day, and the second from Article 17(1)'s forty-eight-hour week read with Article 19(2). Both descend from numbers the statute states. The statute does not choose between them, and neither will we. Note which way the choice runs: the 208 basis produces the higher hourly rate, so it is the larger claim, not the safer one.
• On the 240-hour basis: hourly basic rate 9,000 / 240 = AED 37.50.
• Day overtime, 19(2), basic plus not less than 25 per cent: 37.50 x 1.25 = AED 46.875 an hour. Two hours = AED 93.75.
• Night overtime, 19(3), basic plus not less than 50 per cent: 37.50 x 1.50 = AED 56.25 an hour. Two hours = AED 112.50.
• Difference for the same two hours: AED 18.75.
• On the 208-hour basis: hourly basic rate 9,000 / 208 = AED 43.269...
• Day overtime: 43.269 x 1.25 = AED 54.086 an hour. Two hours = AED 108.17.
• Night overtime: 43.269 x 1.50 = AED 64.904 an hour. Two hours = AED 129.81.

So the same two overtime hours are worth AED 93.75 or AED 108.17 depending on a divisor the statute does not state. That is a 15.4 per cent difference, on every overtime hour, for as long as you work there. We show both and refuse to pick one for you. Anyone giving you one confident overtime figure has chosen a divisor on your behalf and has not told you.

"Not less than" on both rates, so 25 and 50 per cent are floors and a contract may give more. And the day rate applies to shift workers too: only the night rate in clause 3 excludes them.

3. Working your weekend, and working a public holiday

These are two different provisions with two different rates, and they get conflated constantly.

Your weekend, Article 19(4): another day off, or the wage of that day at the normal-working-day rate plus not less than 50 per cent of the basic wage for that day. Note the mixed base: the day's wage at the normal rate, and the uplift expressly of the basic wage.

A public holiday, Article 28(2): another day off for each day worked, or the wage for that day at the normal-working-day rate plus not less than 50 per cent of the basic wage for that day.

Worked example, so you can see they are computed the same way but arise from different articles. Monthly total wage AED 12,000, basic AED 7,500.

• The day's wage at the normal rate: 12,000 / 30 = AED 400.00.
• The uplift, not less than 50 per cent of the basic wage for that day: (7,500 / 30) x 0.50 = 250.00 x 0.50 = AED 125.00.
• Total for that day: AED 525.00.

And the protection in Article 19(5) is easy to overlook: you may not be instructed to work more than two consecutive weekend days, except for day workers.

The public holidays themselves are defined by a Cabinet resolution which we do not hold, so we neither list nor count them.

4. Ramadan, remote work, and the part-time rule

Ramadan. Cabinet Resolution Article 15(2): "The regular working hours shall be reduced by two hours during the holy month of Ramadan." That is in the Resolution, not in the Decree-Law, which is worth knowing because people look for it in the wrong instrument and conclude it does not exist. The clause reduces regular working hours and says nothing on its face about whether the reduction is conditioned on anything.

Overtime in Ramadan. Cabinet Resolution Article 15(3) repeats the two-hour daily overtime cap and the 144-hour three-week cap, and adds an exception: the two-hour daily limit does not apply "unless the work is necessary to prevent the occurrence of a serious loss or a serious accident or to eliminate or mitigate the effects thereof". So the only stated route past the two-hour daily cap is that emergency ground.

Remote work. Article 17(6): where the worker performs work remotely, inside or outside the State, with the employer's approval, the employer may require specific working hours. That is a permission for the employer, and it does not on its face displace the caps in Article 17(1) or Article 19.

Part-time and other patterns. Article 17(5): where a worker works on a pattern other than full time, the original employer, or any other employer for which the worker works, may not ask the worker to work more than the hours agreed upon in the employment contract, except with the written consent of the worker. Written consent, not implied. That is a real protection for anyone on a part-time or multiple-employer arrangement, and the contract is the ceiling unless you agree in writing to more.

5. What this page does not tell you

• How the 144-hour cap reconciles with the 48-hour week. FACT that both are in the text. UNVERIFIED how they fit together. 48 x 3 = 144 exactly, which on a literal reading leaves no room for overtime for a worker at the weekly maximum. We are not resolving it and neither should any page that has not.
• Which divisor converts your monthly wage into an hourly rate. Article 67's thirty-day month times Article 17(1)'s eight-hour day gives 240; Article 17(1)'s forty-eight-hour week read with Article 19(2) gives 208, since 48 x 52 / 12 = 208 exactly. Both descend from numbers the statute states, the statute does not choose between them, and neither will we. Note that the 208 basis produces the higher hourly rate, so it is the larger claim and not the safer one. Take your hourly rate from your contract or payslip if it states one.
• Which conditions and rules permit overtime beyond two hours a day. Article 19(1) defers them to the Implementing Regulation, and Cabinet Resolution Article 15(3) names one ground, the prevention of serious loss or accident. Whether any others exist in an instrument we do not hold, we cannot say.
• Which categories the Minister has added or defined under Cabinet Resolution Article 15(5), which lets him issue resolutions defining the exempt jobs according to labour market needs. We hold no such resolution.
• The list of public holidays. In a Cabinet resolution we do not hold.
• The limitation period, and the deadline to lodge a complaint with the Ministry. We withhold both deliberately. Separately, a ministerial resolution imposes a much shorter window for lodging a labour complaint than the period for bringing a claim. Ask a licensed lawyer now.
• Any case law, of which we hold none, and DIFC or ADGM hours, which are different statutes entirely.

Article 54 is withheld from our corpus, and here is exactly why. The Arabic of Article 54 of the Decree-Law directs a challenge to the Ministry's decision to the competent Court of First Instance, and clause 8 of the same article agrees. MOHRE's English of clause 3 says Court of Appeal and contradicts its own clause 8. And the Arabic of Ministerial Resolution No. (782) of 2023 also says Court of Appeal. So this is not simply a translation error: two instruments in force, read in Arabic, point at different courts, and the window to act is counted in working days. We will not choose a court for you, because filing in the wrong one can cost you the claim. Take this to a lawyer licensed in the UAE, or ask the Ministry directly, and do it now.

6. What to do now, in order

1. Find your contractual basic wage. Overtime is computed on the basic wage under Articles 19(2) and 19(3), which is the smaller of the two Article 1 numbers, and getting this wrong in either direction is the commonest error in an overtime claim.
2. Log your hours daily, with start and finish times. No provision here obliges the employer to hand you a record, so your own log is your evidence, and the day and night hours have to be separable.
3. Separate hours worked between 10pm and 4am. The rate moves from not less than 25 per cent to not less than 50 per cent, and the window is fixed by the clock rather than by whether the work felt like night work.
4. If you are a shift worker, do not accept a refusal of the day rate. Article 19(3) excludes shift workers from clause 3 only. Clause 2 still applies.
5. If you worked your weekend, you get a substitute day or the day plus the uplift. Article 19(4). And you cannot be made to work more than two consecutive weekend days under 19(5), except day workers.
6. If your commute was extended by weather or by a breakdown in employer-provided transport, say so in writing. Cabinet Resolution Article 15(1) counts those periods within working hours.
7. If you are part-time or work for more than one employer, do not agree to extra hours verbally. Article 17(5) requires the written consent of the worker for hours beyond the contract.
8. If it is not paid, the route starts at the Ministry, under Cabinet Resolution Article 31(1), and claims not exceeding AED 100,000 are exempt from judicial fees at all stages of litigation and execution under Article 55(1).

7. When to get a licensed lawyer

• A large accrued overtime claim. The divisor question alone moves the total by about 15 per cent, and the 144-hour tension may be raised against you.
• You are being told you are exempt from the hours provisions. Cabinet Resolution Article 15(4)(b) exempts supervisory positions only if the position grants the authority of the employer, and that is a factual test rather than a title.
• You work a rotating or continuous shift. Article 15(4)(d) carries its own 56-hour weekly average, and Article 19(3) excludes shift workers from the night rate but not the day rate.
• You are being required to work beyond two hours of overtime a day on a ground you cannot identify in the Resolution.
• Any deadline may be running. This is the item where we decline to give you a number.

8. Before you compute an hour: get your contract read against Articles 17 and 19

Three things decide your figure and all three are in your contract: your basic wage, your agreed working hours, and your weekend.

Mohamy.ai document analysis reads your UAE employment contract and shows you your hours clause beside the eight-and-forty-eight rule in Article 17(1) and the two-hour daily overtime cap in Article 19(1), your overtime clause beside the 25 and 50 per cent floors, and how your wage is split between basic and allowances beside the two definitions in Article 1, which is what your overtime rate is built on. It also flags whether your contract states an hourly rate or a divisor, which is the single most useful sentence your contract can contain for this purpose.

It does not compute your claim as a claim and does not tell you what to do. Bring the contract and your hours log, get the comparison, then go with it.

About this guide

What we are. Mohamy.ai publishes general legal information. We are not a law firm. We are not entered on the roll of lawyers and legal consultants held by the UAE Ministry of Justice under Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2022. We are not registered under the Saudi Code of Law Practice. We are not members of the Egyptian Bar Association under Law No. 17 of 1983. Nothing on this page is legal advice, an opinion on your case, or a prediction of any outcome. No lawyer and client relationship is created and no duty of care is owed to you.

The Arabic governs, and the English we quote is the Ministry's own. Article 66(1) of the Decree-Law makes Arabic the approved language, and Article 66(2) provides that where the Arabic text and another language differ, the Arabic text prevails. Every English quotation on this page is taken verbatim from MOHRE's own bilingual publication, which the Ministry disclaims: its standalone Cabinet Resolution PDF carries the footer "THIS is Not an official translation". So where an English word matters to your case, the Arabic is the law and the Ministry's English is not. That is not a formality, and the note on Article 54 earlier on this page sets out exactly why.

What this page does not cover. The UAE federal onshore private sector only. It does not cover the DIFC or the ADGM, which are separate common law jurisdictions with their own employment legislation, their own limitation periods and their own courts. It does not cover federal or local government employees, members of the armed forces, police and security, or domestic workers, all of whom Article 3(2) places outside the Decree-Law, domestic workers being governed by a separate instrument we do not hold. It does not cover any ministerial resolution except where one is named and pinned on the page, and it holds no case law of any kind.

How current this is. Every legal statement here was checked on 21 August 2026 against the pinned MOHRE publication, which is the consolidation including Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024. The UAE Legislation portal records Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 as Active with three amendments, being Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2022, No. 20 of 2023 and No. 9 of 2024, and a last update of 29 July 2024.

Deadlines. Limitation periods and filing deadlines can extinguish an otherwise valid claim permanently. Do not rely on any period stated here. Confirm it with a licensed lawyer without delay. Note in particular that the deadline to lodge a labour complaint with the Ministry and the period for bringing a claim are different numbers of a different order of magnitude, and that the shorter one sits in a ministerial resolution.

Sources. Federal Decree-Law No. (33) of 2021 Regarding the Regulation of Employment Relationships and its amendments, and Cabinet Resolution No. (1) of 2022 on its Implementing Regulation, official MOHRE bilingual publication, pinned SHA-256 db64033d...1d833b6, from which 113 articles were extracted mechanically into an internal corpus. No character of the legal text was typed by a person or produced by a language model. Where the governing Arabic is quoted, it is from the UAE Legislation portal records for Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, read by our primary-source researcher.

How this was produced. Drafted with the assistance of AI and checked against the primary legislation cited above before publication. If you believe anything here is wrong or out of date, write to contact@mohamy.ai and we will correct or withdraw it.

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