Working Hours and Overtime in Botswana

In Botswana, your company must comply with working hour and overtime laws – including daily limits, overtime thresholds, and rest requirements – to stay compliant and build a strong employee experience.

As you plan workforce needs through 2026, you should expect closer scrutiny of working-time practices, more active enforcement of record-keeping and payslip requirements, and growing employee awareness of their rights. Establishing clear policies on standard hours, overtime approval, and rest breaks – and training managers to apply them consistently – will help you avoid disputes, reduce fatigue-related risks, and demonstrate good-faith compliance if audited by authorities or challenged by employees.

• Standard Working Hours
• Overtime Thresholds
• Overtime Pay Rates
• Daily And Weekly Rest Requirements
• Night Work Restrictions
• Penalties For Non-Compliance

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 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 Botswana’s employment framework, the standard limit for most adult employees is 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, excluding unpaid meal breaks. These limits are designed to prevent excessive working time and to protect employee health and safety. You should structure work schedules so that ordinary hours do not routinely exceed these thresholds, and any work beyond them is clearly treated and compensated as overtime. Daily hours are typically spread over five or six days, depending on the sector and the employment contract, but the total weekly cap of 48 hours should remain your primary planning reference.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

• Continuous-Process Operations (Mines, Power, Manufacturing)
• Hospitality, Tourism, And Restaurants
• Agriculture, Livestock, And Seasonal Farm Work
• Security, Guarding, And Emergency Services
• Transport, Logistics, And Long-Distance Driving

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial and certain high-level professional employees in Botswana often have more flexible schedules and may not be subject to the same strict hour-by-hour controls as rank-and-file staff. However, you should not assume that “salaried” automatically means exempt from working-time protections. Employment contracts should clearly define expectations for working hours, availability, and any additional compensation or time off in lieu for extended hours. Even where managers are expected to work beyond the standard 48-hour week from time to time, you remain responsible for preventing abusive or unsafe workloads and for ensuring that reasonable rest periods are respected.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Botswana

For most sectors, full-time employment in Botswana is based on a standard of 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week. When designing roles and drafting contracts, you should specify the normal daily and weekly hours, the pattern of workdays, and how breaks are scheduled within that framework. Part-time and shift-based arrangements should be expressed as a proportion of this full-time benchmark. Clearly distinguishing between ordinary hours and overtime in your documentation and timekeeping systems will help you demonstrate compliance during inspections or disputes.

Overtime Regulations In Botswana

What Counts As Overtime In Botswana?

In Botswana, overtime generally refers to any time an employee works in excess of the agreed ordinary hours, typically more than 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week for adult employees. Overtime can arise from extended shifts, additional days worked, or being required to remain on duty beyond the scheduled end of the workday. You should define ordinary hours and overtime triggers clearly in employment contracts and workplace policies, and ensure that all additional hours are recorded accurately through reliable timekeeping systems. Work performed on public holidays or designated weekly rest days is usually treated as overtime, even if the overall weekly total does not exceed 48 hours.

Maximum Overtime In Botswana

While Botswana’s legislation allows employers to request overtime to meet operational needs, it also expects that overtime be exceptional rather than routine. As a best practice, you should limit overtime to no more than 3 hours per day and 15 hours per week, and avoid patterns that push employees consistently beyond 60 total hours in any week. Extended overtime arrangements should be justified by genuine business necessity, agreed with employees in advance where possible, and monitored for fatigue and safety risks. For vulnerable groups, such as young workers, pregnant employees, or those in hazardous environments, you should apply even stricter internal limits and obtain any required consents or approvals.

Overtime Payout Rates In Botswana

Overtime in Botswana is typically compensated at a premium above the employee’s normal hourly rate. For ordinary overtime worked on regular working days, a common standard is at least 1.5 times the basic hourly wage. Work performed on weekly rest days, public holidays, or at night is often paid at higher rates, such as double time, depending on the sector, collective agreements, or company policy. You should set out overtime rates in writing, calculate them based on the employee’s regular remuneration, and ensure that payslips clearly show overtime hours, rates, and amounts paid. Where you offer time off in lieu instead of cash, this should be granted at an equivalent premium (for example, 1.5 hours of time off for each overtime hour worked) and taken within a reasonable period.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Botswana

In Botswana, where most full-time employees work around 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, rest periods and breaks are essential to keeping workloads safe and sustainable. You must build meal breaks, daily rest between shifts, and weekly rest days into your scheduling so that employees are not effectively working beyond the statutory limits, and ensure that any overtime does not erode these minimum rest protections.

• Meal Break Requirements
• Daily Rest
• Weekly Rest
• Minors
• Employer Duties