Working Hours and Overtime in Dominican Republic

In Dominican Republic, 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.

Dominican labor authorities closely monitor how employers schedule work, record hours, and compensate overtime. You are responsible for setting standard schedules that respect the 44-hour weekly limit for adults, applying stricter limits for minors, paying overtime at the correct premium rates, and guaranteeing daily and weekly rest. By 2026, enforcement is expected to intensify, with greater use of electronic inspections, data-driven audits of timekeeping and payroll records, and closer scrutiny of night work, high-risk sectors, and the classification of managerial staff.

To prepare, review your internal regulations, employment contracts, and timekeeping systems to ensure they align with statutory requirements and any applicable collective agreements. Train managers on when overtime is allowed, how it must be authorized, and how to avoid excessive hours that could trigger sanctions or occupational health issues. Proactive compliance will help you avoid fines, back-pay orders, and reputational damage while supporting employee well-being and retention.

• 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 Dominican Republic?

An employee whose age is 16 or younger has a maximum of 6 hours per day and 36 hours per week. An employee whose age is 18 or older is allowed to work 44 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 Dominican Republic

Under the Dominican Labor Code, the standard workweek for adult employees is 44 hours, typically spread over no more than 6 days. A standard workday should not exceed 8 hours in most settings, although the law allows some flexibility in scheduling as long as the weekly cap and daily health and safety considerations are respected. You should design schedules so that employees do not regularly approach the legal maximum, especially where work is physically demanding or involves safety risks.

For minors between 14 and 18 years of age who are legally permitted to work, the law imposes stricter limits. They may not work more than 6 hours per day or 36 hours per week, and they are prohibited from night work and hazardous activities. As an employer, you must verify age documentation and ensure that any scheduling system automatically applies these reduced limits to underage workers.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

• Hospital And Health Services
• Hotels, Tourism, And Hospitality
• Retail And Commercial Establishments
• Transportation And Logistics Services
• Agriculture And Seasonal Harvest Work
• Security, Surveillance, And Guard Services
• Continuous-Process Manufacturing And Utilities

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Dominican law distinguishes between ordinary employees and those in positions of trust, direction, or management. Senior managers, executives, and certain supervisory staff may be treated as exempt from some working-time limitations, particularly where they have broad decision-making authority, control over their own schedules, and represent the employer. However, this does not give you unlimited discretion to impose excessive hours. Courts may look at the substance of the role rather than the job title when determining whether an employee is truly exempt.

To reduce risk, clearly define managerial and trust positions in employment contracts, specify their autonomy over working time, and ensure their compensation reflects the expectation of longer or irregular hours. Avoid classifying mid-level staff or technical specialists as exempt if they do not genuinely exercise managerial authority, as misclassification can lead to retroactive overtime claims and administrative penalties.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Dominican Republic

For most adult employees, statutory full-time work is based on a 44-hour week. Many employers structure this as 8 hours per day from Monday to Friday and 4 hours on Saturday, or as 5 days of roughly 8.8 hours each, provided that daily and weekly limits are respected and employees receive the required rest periods. Any hours worked beyond the agreed and statutory weekly schedule generally qualify as overtime and must be compensated at the applicable premium rates.

When drafting contracts and internal policies, you should explicitly state the normal weekly schedule, the reference period for calculating overtime, and how changes to schedules will be communicated. Align your timekeeping systems with these statutory thresholds so that overtime is automatically flagged once an employee exceeds 44 hours in a week or works beyond the standard daily schedule.

Overtime Regulations In Dominican Republic

What Counts As Overtime In Dominican Republic?

Overtime in Dominican Republic generally refers to any time worked beyond the statutory or contractually agreed normal working hours. For most adult employees, this means hours worked in excess of 44 hours per week or beyond the standard daily schedule established in the employment contract or internal regulations. Work performed on weekly rest days or public holidays is also treated as overtime and attracts higher premium rates.

Overtime must be expressly or implicitly authorized by the employer. You should implement clear procedures for requesting and approving overtime, and you must maintain accurate records of hours worked, including start and end times, breaks, and any work performed at night. Unauthorized overtime that you know about and benefit from can still give rise to payment obligations, so supervisors should actively manage schedules to prevent unapproved extra hours.

Maximum Overtime In Dominican Republic

Dominican labor rules are designed to prevent excessive working hours that could endanger employee health and safety. As a general guideline, daily working time, including overtime, should not exceed 10 hours except in exceptional and temporary circumstances, and weekly overtime should remain limited so that total hours do not become excessive on a sustained basis. Night work and work involving special risks should be subject to even stricter internal limits.

In practice, you should treat overtime as an exception rather than a routine feature of work. Establish internal caps on weekly and monthly overtime, require higher-level approval when employees approach those caps, and monitor workloads to ensure that staffing levels are adequate. For minors and pregnant employees, overtime should be avoided entirely, as they benefit from heightened protection under Dominican labor and health and safety regulations.

Overtime Payout Rates In Dominican Republic

Overtime hours must be compensated at premium rates above the employee’s regular hourly wage. As a baseline, hours worked beyond the normal daily or weekly schedule are typically paid at 135% of the regular rate, while hours worked at night, on weekly rest days, or on public holidays may attract higher multipliers, often 200% or more, depending on the circumstances and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

To calculate overtime, determine the employee’s regular hourly rate by dividing their ordinary weekly or monthly salary by the corresponding number of standard hours. Apply the appropriate legal or contractual multiplier to each category of overtime worked – such as weekday overtime, night overtime, and work on rest days or holidays – and itemize these amounts clearly on the payslip. Your payroll system should be configured to automatically apply the correct rates once overtime is recorded, and you should retain supporting time records for audit and inspection purposes.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Dominican Republic

Employees in Dominican Republic typically work up to 8 hours per day and 44 hours per week, and the law links rest periods and breaks directly to these limits to protect health and safety. As an employer, you must ensure that employees who work more than a few continuous hours receive a proper meal break, that there is sufficient daily rest between shifts, and that each worker enjoys at least one full day of weekly rest, with additional protections for minors and those performing night or hazardous work.

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