Working Hours and Overtime in Botswana

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Botswana?

An employee whose age is 15 or younger has a maximum of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week. An employee whose age is 16 or older is allowed to work 48 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 30 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 08:00 to 17:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Botswana

Under the Botswana Employment Act, the normal limit for most employees is 9 hours per day and 48 hours per week, excluding unpaid meal breaks. You must structure work schedules so that employees do not routinely exceed these limits without clearly documented overtime arrangements. Daily hours can be distributed unevenly across the week, provided the weekly total does not surpass 48 hours.

Any work beyond the agreed normal hours becomes overtime and must be specifically authorized and recorded. Collective agreements or written contracts may set lower daily or weekly limits, but they cannot lawfully increase the statutory maximums. You should regularly review rosters and time records to ensure that compressed workweeks or shift systems still respect the 48-hour weekly ceiling.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Botswana, these sectors often rely on shift work, split shifts, or 24/7 coverage, which requires careful planning to remain within the 9-hour daily and 48-hour weekly framework. You may use averaging over a reference period only where permitted by law or collective agreement and where total hours and rest requirements are still respected.

• Healthcare professionals may work 12-hour shifts with extended rest periods.
• Transport workers must comply with EU-aligned rest and driving limits.
• Manufacturing and security staff often rotate through night or weekend shifts.

Even in these sectors, you must ensure the average weekly limit is respected over a reference period. You should document any sector-based derogations in contracts or policies and ensure employees receive the required daily and weekly rest. Failure to adapt staffing levels to workload peaks can easily push total hours beyond lawful limits.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial employees in Botswana may be excluded from some working-time and overtime provisions where they genuinely control their own schedules and working patterns. However, you should still define expected working hours or availability windows in their contracts to avoid unreasonable demands. Even for exempt staff, health and safety obligations require you to prevent excessive working hours that could create fatigue risks.

Where you classify employees as managerial or exempt, the job description and actual practice must support that status. You should avoid blanket exemptions and instead assess each role individually, documenting why overtime rules do or do not apply. Clear written terms on salary, hours, and any inclusive overtime are essential to reduce disputes.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Botswana

In Botswana, statutory full-time work is generally based on the 48-hour weekly limit for most sectors. Many employers, however, adopt a 40–45 hour workweek for full-time roles, such as 08:00–17:00 Monday to Friday with a one-hour lunch break. You may agree to shorter full-time hours in contracts or collective agreements, but you cannot exceed the statutory ceiling without triggering overtime.

Part-time employees work fewer hours than the full-time standard but are still entitled to proportional rest and overtime protections. Flexible arrangements such as compressed weeks or variable shifts are permissible if the average hours do not exceed 48 per week and rest rules are observed. You should clearly define what constitutes full-time and part-time status in your internal policies and employment contracts.

Overtime Regulations In Botswana

Overtime in Botswana is tightly regulated, and you must obtain employees’ consent to work beyond their normal hours except in limited emergency situations. You are required to keep accurate records of all hours worked, including start and finish times, overtime hours, and applicable pay rates. Non-compliance with overtime rules can lead to back-pay orders, fines, and reputational damage during inspections or disputes.

What Counts As Overtime In Botswana?

Overtime in Botswana is any time worked beyond the employee’s normal daily or weekly hours as set in the contract, up to the statutory maximum of 48 ordinary hours per week. For most employees, work beyond 9 hours in a day or beyond 48 hours in a week is treated as overtime and must be compensated at premium rates. Work performed on a weekly rest day or public holiday is also treated as overtime, even if the 48-hour weekly threshold has not been reached.

Overtime must generally be agreed in advance and should not be used as a permanent substitute for proper staffing. You should specify in writing whether overtime is occasional or regular and how it will be authorized and recorded. Employees should not be penalized for reasonably refusing overtime that exceeds legal limits or was not properly requested.

Maximum Overtime In Botswana

Under the Botswana Employment Act, overtime is capped at 14 hours per week for most employees, meaning total hours should not exceed 62 hours in any week. This 14-hour weekly overtime limit applies in addition to the 48 ordinary hours and is intended to prevent excessive working time. You must design rosters so that no employee is scheduled for more than 62 total hours in any week, including night, weekend, and holiday work.

In exceptional circumstances, limited extensions may be allowed by the Commissioner of Labour, but you must seek prior approval and justify the operational necessity with numerical details. Without such approval, you should treat 14 hours per week as the absolute overtime ceiling and avoid repeated use of maximum overtime over many consecutive weeks. Monitoring overtime trends and setting internal caps below the legal maximum can help you manage fatigue and compliance risk.

Overtime Payout Rates In Botswana

In Botswana, the statutory minimum overtime rate for work performed beyond normal hours on ordinary working days is 1.5x the employee’s basic hourly wage, equivalent to 150% of the normal rate. Work performed on a weekly rest day or public holiday must be paid at a minimum of 2x the basic hourly wage, or 200% of the normal rate. If you offer higher contractual rates, such as 1.75x for weekday overtime or 2.5x for public holidays, those more generous terms will apply.

Overtime pay must be calculated using the employee’s basic wage plus any regular cash allowances that form part of normal remuneration, divided by the standard weekly hours, typically 48. You should show overtime hours and corresponding 1.5x or 2x payments clearly on payslips to ensure transparency and reduce disputes. Time off in lieu may be used only where the employee agrees and where the paid time off is equivalent in value to the statutory overtime premium.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Botswana

In Botswana, employees typically work up to 9 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and rest periods are designed to protect health within these limits. The law requires meal and daily rest breaks once employees work more than a set number of consecutive hours, and you must schedule these pauses into the working day. Weekly rest days also apply so that total working time, including overtime, does not undermine recovery.

• Meal Break: In Botswana, employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours must receive at least a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break. This break is generally unpaid unless your contract or policy states otherwise.
• Daily Rest: Employees are entitled to a minimum continuous daily rest period of 12 hours between the end of one workday and the start of the next. You should design shifts so that travel or handover duties do not erode this 12-hour rest window.
• Weekly Rest: Botswana law requires at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, typically on Sunday or another agreed day. If operational needs require Sunday work, you must provide a substitute rest day and apply the correct overtime or premium rates.
• Minors: Young workers under 18 in Botswana must not work excessive hours and should receive longer or more frequent rest breaks than adults. You should avoid scheduling minors for night work or extended shifts that could interfere with schooling or health.
• Employer Duty: Employers in Botswana must actively schedule and enforce breaks and rest periods rather than leaving them to employees’ discretion. You should keep rosters and attendance records that demonstrate compliance with meal, daily, and weekly rest requirements.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Botswana

Night and weekend work are legal in Botswana but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must ensure that working-time limits, rest periods, and overtime rules are respected even when operations run 24/7. Particular care is needed to manage fatigue, safety, and fair compensation for employees regularly scheduled outside normal daytime hours.

Night work in Botswana is commonly defined in practice as work performed between 19:00 and 07:00, although specific time windows may be set by sectoral agreements or contracts. Any substantial portion of a shift falling within this 12-hour night window should be treated as night work for scheduling and risk-assessment purposes. You should clearly define in contracts and policies when night work begins and ends for each category of staff.

• Premium Pay: Botswana law does not prescribe a specific statutory night work premium, so there is no mandatory percentage such as 25% or 1.25x solely for night hours. In practice, many employers pay a contractual night allowance of 10%–30% of the basic hourly rate, or set a night-shift rate of 1.1x–1.3x, in addition to any overtime premiums where total hours exceed normal limits.
• Health Monitoring: While there is no detailed statutory schedule for medical checks, you are expected under health and safety duties to assess risks for regular night workers. Providing periodic health assessments and fatigue management training is strongly recommended, especially in safety-critical roles such as transport, mining, and security.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors under 18 should not normally be employed on night shifts in Botswana, particularly in hazardous sectors such as mining or industrial operations. Pregnant workers should be offered alternative day work or adjusted duties where night work could pose health risks, based on medical advice and risk assessments.

Weekend work, including Sunday work, is permitted in Botswana where the nature of the business requires it, such as hospitality, retail, and essential services. Sunday is typically treated as a weekly rest day, so employees who work on Sunday should receive a substitute rest day and, where applicable, overtime or premium pay of at least 2x the basic hourly rate when it is a designated rest day or public holiday.