My staff work extra hours — how am I supposed to pay them under the law?

Under Article 19 of the Federal Labour Relations Law, standard private-sector working hours are 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week, with a maximum of two additional hours of overtime allowed per day. A normal overtime hour is paid at the regular hourly wage plus an increase of at least 25% of that wage. If the extra work falls in the night period, meaning between 10pm and 4am, the increase rises to at least 50% of the hourly wage — unless the employee already works on a shift basis, since the law specifically excludes shift workers from this particular night premium.

If a company needs an employee to work on their weekly rest day, it has two options: grant a substitute rest day, or pay a full day's wage plus an increase of at least 50%. In all cases, total working hours — including overtime — should not exceed 144 hours over any three-week period. This calculation needs to be documented monthly within the payroll file, not worked out manually when a dispute arises, since it's one of the first things scrutinised in any labour claim. RASEEKH ties the overtime calculation into your payroll setup from the start, so the number is right from month one.