Working Hours and Overtime in Bahrain

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Bahrain?

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 6 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 8:00 to 16:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Bahrain

Under Bahraini labour law, the normal maximum working time for adult employees is 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, excluding unpaid meal breaks. During the month of Ramadan, Muslim employees are limited to 6 hours per day and 36 hours per week, so you must adjust schedules accordingly. You may not structure standard rosters that systematically exceed these limits and then rely on overtime to compensate.

Working hours can be distributed unevenly across the week, provided the average does not exceed 48 hours over the applicable reference period and daily limits are respected. Any variation from the statutory pattern should be clearly documented in employment contracts or internal policies. You must also display working time schedules at the workplace and keep accurate attendance records to demonstrate compliance.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules that allow for longer daily hours, provided weekly averages and rest entitlements are preserved. The Ministry of Labour may approve different arrangements where the nature of the work requires continuous operation, such as hospitals, hotels, ports, and certain industrial plants.

In these cases, you can introduce shift systems that extend individual shifts beyond 8 hours, but you must still respect the 48-hour weekly ceiling and provide at least one full rest day per week. Any approved derogations should be kept on file and reflected in written work rules so inspectors can verify that extended shifts are lawful and properly compensated.

• 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 monitor rosters to ensure that extended shifts do not erode the minimum daily and weekly rest periods required under Bahraini law. Where operational demands are high, consider adding headcount or redistributing tasks rather than relying on chronic overtime.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial employees in Bahrain may be excluded from certain working time and overtime provisions if they genuinely have authority over hiring, firing, and policy decisions. However, you should not assume that a job title alone creates an exemption, and you remain responsible for ensuring that working hours are reasonable and do not endanger health and safety.

For quasi-managerial or supervisory roles, it is prudent to specify expected working hours and any overtime arrangements explicitly in the employment contract. Where you treat a role as exempt from overtime premiums, you should justify this based on the Labour Law criteria and consider compensating long hours through higher base pay or time off in lieu to reduce legal and retention risks.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Bahrain

In Bahrain, full-time employment is generally based on the statutory maximum of 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week for adult workers. Many employers define full-time contracts around this benchmark, with pro-rated arrangements for part-time staff who work fewer weekly hours.

You may adopt alternative full-time patterns, such as compressed workweeks or rotating shifts, as long as the average weekly hours do not exceed 48 and all rest and overtime rules are respected. Any such variations should be clearly documented in offer letters, contracts, and employee handbooks so that expectations about working time are transparent.

Overtime Regulations In Bahrain

As an employer in Bahrain, you must obtain the employee’s consent for overtime, keep precise records of hours worked, and ensure that overtime is used only when necessary. You are required to pay statutory overtime premiums – not just the basic wage – whenever employees work beyond normal limits or on weekly rest days and public holidays. Failure to comply with overtime rules can lead to back-pay orders, administrative fines, and potential suspension of work permits in serious cases.

What Counts As Overtime In Bahrain?

In Bahrain, overtime for adult workers generally means any hours worked beyond 8 hours in a day or 48 hours in a week, whichever threshold is triggered first. Work performed on the employee’s weekly rest day or on an official public holiday is also treated as overtime, even if total weekly hours remain at or below 48. You must obtain written or at least documented consent for overtime and should not rely on implied consent through attendance alone.

Overtime must be ordered or approved by a responsible manager, and you should have a clear policy stating when overtime is allowed and how it is compensated. Time spent on mandatory training, on-call duties at the workplace, or required travel outside normal hours can count as working time and may trigger overtime if it pushes the employee beyond daily or weekly limits. To avoid disputes, ensure that your timekeeping systems capture all compensable hours and that employees understand how overtime is calculated.

Maximum Overtime In Bahrain

Bahraini labour law limits overtime to a maximum of 2 hours per day, meaning an employee should not work more than 10 hours in any single day including overtime. In addition, total overtime may not exceed 6 hours per week and 24 hours per month under standard Ministry of Labour guidance, so you must plan staffing levels to avoid breaching these caps. Over a full year, this equates to a practical ceiling of around 288 hours of overtime per employee if you consistently reach the monthly maximum.

In exceptional circumstances, such as urgent repair work or force majeure, the Ministry may approve temporary deviations, but you must still respect health and safety obligations and keep documentary evidence of the justification. You should monitor overtime reports monthly to ensure no employee regularly approaches the 24-hour monthly limit, and consider hiring additional staff or reorganising shifts if overtime becomes structural rather than occasional. Systematic breaches of overtime caps can trigger inspections and financial penalties.

Overtime Payout Rates In Bahrain

For overtime worked on a normal working day in Bahrain, you must pay at least 125% of the employee’s normal hourly wage, which is a 1.25x multiplier. For overtime performed between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., the minimum premium increases to 150% of the normal hourly wage, or 1.5x, reflecting the additional burden of night work. These statutory minimums apply regardless of whether the employee is paid hourly, daily, or monthly, so you must convert salaries into an hourly rate for calculation.

When an employee works on their weekly rest day or on an official public holiday, you must pay at least 150% of the normal wage (1.5x) plus grant a substitute rest day, or pay 200% of the normal wage (2x) if no substitute rest day is given. You may always offer higher contractual rates – for example 175% or 2x for regular overtime – but you cannot go below the statutory 125%, 150%, or 200% thresholds. Ensure your payroll system is configured to apply the correct multiplier depending on whether the overtime is on a normal day, at night, on a weekly rest day, or on a public holiday.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Bahrain

Employees in Bahrain typically work up to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and the law links specific rest periods and breaks to these standard hours to protect health and safety. When daily working time exceeds 6 hours, you must provide at least one uninterrupted meal and rest break, and you must also ensure adequate daily and weekly rest between shifts. Structuring schedules around these limits helps you remain compliant while maintaining productivity.

• Meal Break: Bahraini law requires at least a 30-minute break when the working day exceeds 6 hours, and this break must be scheduled so that employees do not work more than 6 consecutive hours. The meal break is generally unpaid unless your contract or policy states otherwise.
• Daily Rest: Employees must receive a minimum of 11 consecutive hours of rest between the end of one workday and the start of the next. You should design shift patterns so that overtime or split shifts do not reduce this daily rest below 11 hours.
• Weekly Rest: Employees are entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, typically on Friday in Bahrain. If business needs require work on the usual rest day, you must provide a substitute rest day and apply the appropriate overtime premium.
• Minors: Workers under 18 in Bahrain face stricter limits, including a maximum of 6 hours per day with at least a 1-hour break and a prohibition on night work. You must obtain and retain proof of age and ensure rosters for minors are reviewed separately for compliance.
• Employer Duty: As an employer, you must post working time schedules, enforce breaks, and keep attendance records that show when employees start, stop, and take rest. Labour inspectors may review these records, so your internal systems should clearly reflect compliance with daily and weekly rest requirements.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Bahrain

Night and weekend work are legal in Bahrain but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must pay statutory premiums for certain night and rest-day hours, monitor fatigue risks, and ensure that vulnerable groups such as minors and pregnant workers are not assigned to prohibited shifts.

Night work in Bahrain is generally understood as work performed between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and overtime during this window attracts a higher statutory premium of at least 150% of the normal wage (1.5x). This framework applies across most roles, although specific sectors may have additional rules or guidance issued by the Ministry of Labour.

• Premium Pay: For overtime hours worked at night in Bahrain, you must pay at least 150% of the normal hourly wage, or 1.5x, compared with the 125% (1.25x) minimum for overtime during daytime hours. Work on the weekly rest day or public holidays can require 150% plus a substitute rest day or 200% (2x) pay if no substitute rest is granted.
• Health Monitoring: While Bahraini law does not mandate periodic medical exams for night workers in all sectors, you are expected to manage health and safety risks, which may include offering health assessments for employees regularly assigned to night shifts. In higher-risk environments such as industrial plants or healthcare, conducting pre-placement and periodic health checks for night workers is considered best practice.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors under 18 are prohibited from working at night in Bahrain, typically between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and you must design rosters to prevent any breach of this rule. Pregnant workers should not be required to perform night work or extended weekend shifts where this could endanger their health, and you should consider medical recommendations when adjusting their schedules.

Weekend work in Bahrain often falls on Friday, which is commonly treated as the weekly rest day, and employees are entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week. If you require employees to work on their weekly rest day, you must either provide a substitute rest day and pay at least 150% of the normal wage (1.5x) or, if no substitute rest day is given, pay at least 200% of the normal wage (2x) for those hours.