Working Hours and Overtime in Colombia

In Colombia, 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 regulations continue to evolve, you should regularly review employment contracts, internal policies, and timekeeping practices to ensure they align with statutory limits on ordinary hours, overtime, and night work. By 2026, further refinements to working-time rules and enforcement practices are expected, with greater scrutiny on excessive overtime, accurate recording of hours, and the protection of vulnerable workers such as minors and shift workers. Proactive compliance – supported by robust HR systems, clear communication with employees, and periodic legal audits – will help you avoid disputes and maintain a sustainable, productive workforce.

• 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 Colombia?

An employee whose age is 17 or younger has a maximum of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week. An employee whose age is 18 or older is allowed to work 42 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 60 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 17:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Colombia

Colombian labor law establishes a general maximum of 42 ordinary working hours per week for adult employees, usually distributed across 5 or 6 days. These hours are typically scheduled between 6:00 and 21:00 and may be arranged in different daily distributions – for example, 8.4 hours over 5 days or 7 hours over 6 days – as long as the weekly cap is respected and employees receive at least one full day of rest. You should clearly document the agreed schedule in employment contracts or internal regulations and ensure that any work beyond the agreed ordinary hours is treated and compensated as overtime.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

• Continuous Process Manufacturing And Heavy Industry
• Healthcare, Hospitals, And Emergency Services
• Hospitality, Tourism, And Restaurants
• Transportation, Logistics, And Aviation
• Security, Surveillance, And Guard Services
• Agriculture, Livestock, And Seasonal Harvest Work

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Certain managerial, trust, and direction employees in Colombia may be excluded from strict control of working hours and overtime, provided they genuinely exercise high-level decision-making authority and enjoy broad autonomy over their schedules. For these roles, you may agree on more flexible working arrangements, but you must still respect health and safety standards, provide adequate rest, and avoid abusive workloads. Misclassifying regular employees as exempt managers to avoid paying overtime can lead to back-pay claims, fines, and litigation, so you should carefully define managerial status in contracts and job descriptions and ensure that actual duties match the exemption criteria.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Colombia

Statutory full-time work in Colombia is based on a 42-hour workweek for adult employees, which can be distributed across the week by mutual agreement between employer and employee, subject to legal limits on daily hours and rest. Many employers still operate on a traditional schedule of 8 hours per day, Monday through Friday, with a shorter day on Saturday or a compressed 5-day week. When designing full-time roles, you should align your internal policies with the statutory weekly limit, clearly distinguish ordinary hours from overtime, and ensure that any flexible or shift-based arrangements continue to respect daily and weekly rest requirements.

Overtime Regulations In Colombia

What Counts As Overtime In Colombia?

In Colombia, overtime is any time an employee works beyond the ordinary working hours agreed in the contract, up to the statutory weekly maximum, and especially any hours that exceed the legal 42-hour weekly limit for adult employees. Overtime can be daytime or nighttime, and it can occur on regular working days, weekly rest days, or public holidays. You must obtain the employee’s consent for overtime, keep accurate records of all extra hours worked, and ensure that overtime is exceptional rather than a permanent substitute for proper staffing.

Maximum Overtime In Colombia

Colombian law limits overtime to protect employee health and safety. In general, employees may not work more than 2 hours of overtime per day and 12 hours of overtime per week, regardless of whether the overtime is daytime or nighttime. These limits apply in addition to the ordinary working hours and are designed to ensure that total working time does not become excessive. You should monitor schedules closely, implement approval procedures for overtime, and avoid systematic reliance on overtime that could be interpreted as a structural understaffing issue.

Overtime Payout Rates In Colombia

Overtime in Colombia must be paid at premium rates calculated on the employee’s regular hourly wage. Daytime overtime is typically paid at a 25% surcharge over the ordinary hourly rate, while nighttime overtime carries a 75% surcharge. Work performed on Sundays and public holidays attracts higher premiums, and if such work is also overtime, the surcharges are cumulative according to the law. You should clearly explain overtime rates in employment contracts and payslips, ensure payroll systems correctly apply the legal percentages, and regularly review your practices to remain aligned with any legislative updates.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Colombia

In Colombia, employees generally work up to 42 hours per week, usually spread over 5 or 6 days, with daily schedules commonly around 8 hours. Within these ordinary working hours, employees are entitled to rest periods and breaks that protect their health and ensure sustainable productivity, including a meal break when the daily shift exceeds a set number of hours, daily rest between shifts, and at least one full day of weekly rest. As an employer, you must structure work schedules so that these breaks are effectively granted and not merely theoretical, and you should document them clearly in internal policies and rosters.

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