Working Hours and Overtime in Eritrea

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Eritrea?

An employee whose age is 14 or younger has a maximum of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week. An employee whose age is 15 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 Eritrea

Under Eritrean labour law, the normal working time for adult employees is generally set at 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week. You should structure work schedules so that employees do not routinely exceed these limits without triggering overtime rules and appropriate compensation. Collective agreements or workplace rules may distribute hours unevenly across the week, provided the 48-hour weekly ceiling is respected.

When you introduce shift systems or compressed workweeks, you must still ensure that the average working time does not exceed 48 hours per week over the agreed reference period. Any hours worked beyond the normal daily or weekly limits must be treated as overtime and recorded accurately. Employers are expected to maintain reliable timekeeping systems to demonstrate compliance in the event of inspection or dispute.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In practice, these sectors often rely on shift work, split shifts, or on-call arrangements to maintain continuous operations while still respecting the 48-hour weekly norm. You should document any sector-based deviations clearly in employment contracts or internal policies.

• 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. Where operational needs require longer shifts, you should provide compensatory rest and ensure that overtime is both justified and properly compensated. Written rosters and advance notice help demonstrate that you are managing working time responsibly.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial staff and certain high-level professionals in Eritrea may enjoy greater flexibility in how their working time is organized. However, there is no blanket exemption from the fundamental protections on health and safety, and you should avoid imposing excessively long hours even on senior staff. Employment contracts should clearly state whether the salary is intended to cover a reasonable amount of additional hours beyond the standard schedule.

Where you classify employees as managerial or otherwise exempt from standard overtime rules, the role and level of autonomy must justify that status. Misclassifying employees to avoid paying overtime can expose you to back-pay claims and administrative penalties. It is good practice to periodically review job descriptions and actual duties to ensure that any exemption remains defensible.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Eritrea

In Eritrea, full-time employment is typically based on the statutory norm of 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week for adult workers. You may agree to slightly different daily distributions, such as 9 hours on some days and fewer on others, as long as the weekly total does not exceed 48 hours without overtime. Part-time arrangements should be expressed as a clear fraction of this full-time benchmark.

When you implement flexible or part-time schedules, ensure that employees are not indirectly pressured to work beyond their contracted hours without overtime pay. Written contracts should specify the normal weekly hours, daily schedule, and how any additional hours will be authorized and compensated. This clarity reduces disputes and supports consistent compliance across your workforce.

Overtime Regulations In Eritrea

Overtime in Eritrea must be carefully controlled, documented, and compensated in line with statutory rules and any applicable collective agreements. You are responsible for authorizing overtime in advance, keeping accurate records of hours worked, and ensuring that employees do not exceed legal limits. Failure to manage overtime properly can lead to wage claims, administrative fines, and reputational risk.

What Counts As Overtime In Eritrea?

In Eritrea, overtime generally means any hours worked beyond the normal 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week for adult employees. Work performed outside the employee’s agreed schedule, when it pushes the total above these thresholds, should be treated and paid as overtime. You should define in your internal policies who may authorize overtime and under what circumstances.

Work performed on the employee’s weekly rest day or on a public holiday is also treated as overtime, even if the 48-hour weekly limit is not exceeded. Such work typically attracts higher premium rates than ordinary overtime, reflecting the loss of rest or holiday time. To avoid disputes, ensure that employees understand when rest-day or holiday work will be required and how it will be compensated.

Maximum Overtime In Eritrea

Eritrean labour rules generally limit overtime to a maximum of 2 hours per day, so that the total daily working time does not normally exceed 10 hours. On a weekly basis, overtime is typically capped at 12 hours, resulting in an absolute weekly maximum of 60 hours including regular time. These limits are designed to protect employee health and safety while allowing some flexibility for peak workloads.

In exceptional circumstances, such as emergencies or urgent repairs, the authorities may allow temporary deviations from the standard overtime caps, but these must be justified and documented. You should not plan your regular operations on the assumption that employees will consistently work at or near the maximum overtime limits. Instead, use overtime as a short-term tool and consider hiring additional staff if high overtime levels persist.

Overtime Payout Rates In Eritrea

For hours worked beyond the normal daily or weekly limits, Eritrean practice is to pay a statutory overtime premium of at least 1.5x the employee’s regular hourly rate, equivalent to a 50% increase. When overtime is performed at night, many employers apply a combined premium of 1.75x, reflecting both overtime and night-work compensation, although this may be set higher by contract or collective agreement. You should state the exact multipliers in your employment contracts or policies to avoid ambiguity.

Work performed on the employee’s weekly rest day or on a public holiday is typically compensated at 2.0x the regular hourly rate, representing a 100% premium. If you provide paid time off in lieu of overtime pay, the time off should be equivalent in value to the monetary premium, for example 1.5 hours of paid leave for each 1 hour of overtime paid at 1.5x. Clear payroll calculations and payslip breakdowns help demonstrate that these numerical rates are being correctly applied.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Eritrea

In Eritrea, employees typically work 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and rest periods are structured around these standard hours to protect health and productivity. During each working day, employees are entitled to a meal break once they have worked more than 5 consecutive hours, and daily and weekly rest periods must also be respected. As an employer, you must schedule and monitor these breaks so that total working time and rest entitlements remain compliant.

• Meal Break: Employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours in Eritrea must receive at least a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break, which should not be scheduled at the very start or end of the shift. You should ensure that this break is free from work duties and properly reflected in rosters.
• Daily Rest: Employees are generally entitled to a minimum of 11 consecutive hours of rest between the end of one workday and the start of the next in Eritrea. Organizing split shifts or late-night work must not reduce this daily rest below the minimum.
• Weekly Rest: Eritrean practice provides at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, commonly taken on Sunday or another agreed day. If operational needs require Sunday work, you should grant a substitute rest day within the same week.
• Minors: Young workers under 18 in Eritrea must have shorter working days, longer rest periods, and more frequent breaks than adults. You should avoid scheduling minors for evening or night work and keep detailed records of their hours.
• Employer Duty: Employers in Eritrea are responsible for designing schedules that respect all statutory rest and break requirements and for preventing employees from voluntarily skipping breaks. Regular audits of time records and rosters help you demonstrate compliance if inspected.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Eritrea

Night and weekend work are legal in Eritrea but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must pay close attention to working-time limits, rest periods, and any applicable premium rates when organizing such shifts.

Night work in Eritrea is generally understood as work performed between 22:00 and 06:00, although specific definitions may be refined by contract or collective agreement. This definition applies across most roles, and you should clearly indicate in employment contracts when an employee is expected to perform regular night work.

• Premium Pay: Eritrea does not prescribe a specific statutory night-work premium in its labour legislation, so there is no mandatory percentage such as 25% or 1.25x. In practice, many employers grant a night-shift premium in the range of 20%–30% of the basic hourly wage, for example paying 1.2x–1.3x for hours worked between 22:00 and 06:00, and you should specify the exact rate in contracts or policies.
• Health Monitoring: While Eritrean law does not set out detailed mandatory medical checks for night workers, regular night-shift staff should be offered periodic health assessments to monitor fatigue, sleep disorders, and related risks. You should also review accident data and absenteeism patterns to identify any health or safety issues linked to night work.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors under 18 in Eritrea should not be employed in night work or hazardous late-evening shifts, and pregnant workers should be exempted from night duties where medically advised. Adjusting schedules or reassigning tasks is recommended to ensure these vulnerable groups are not exposed to excessive risk.

Weekend work in Eritrea is generally permitted, but employees are entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, usually on Sunday or another agreed day. Many employers pay a weekend premium of around 1.5x for Sunday work or provide a substitute rest day, and you should clearly define in writing whether weekend work will be compensated through premium pay, time off in lieu, or a combination of both.