Working Hours and Overtime in Ethiopia

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Ethiopia?

An employee whose age is 14 or younger has a maximum of 7 hours per day and 42 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 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 8:30 to 17:30.

Maximum Working Hours In Ethiopia

Under the Ethiopian Labour Proclamation, normal working time for adult employees is capped at 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week. You may schedule these hours differently across the week, but the total regular hours cannot exceed 48 in any one-week period. Daily limits can only be exceeded when overtime rules are followed and documented.

Collective agreements or workplace rules may distribute hours unevenly across days, such as longer shifts on some days and shorter on others, provided the weekly 48-hour ceiling is respected. As an employer, you must clearly state normal working hours in the employment contract or internal regulations and keep accurate time records. You are also responsible for ensuring that any additional hours beyond the normal schedule are treated and paid as overtime according to statutory rates.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Ethiopia, these sectors often rely on shift systems and extended operating hours to maintain continuous services. You must still respect the overall daily and weekly limits unless specific legal derogations apply.

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. In practice, this means monitoring rosters over several weeks to ensure that average hours do not exceed 48 per week. You should also use written shift schedules and obtain employee consent where irregular or split shifts are required.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial employees in Ethiopia may be excluded from some working-time and overtime provisions where they have genuine decision-making authority and control over their own schedules. However, you cannot simply label an employee as “managerial” to avoid compliance with working-hour rules. The actual duties and level of autonomy determine whether exemptions apply.

Where managers are exempt from overtime, their higher base salary is expected to reflect the broader working-time expectations. You should define working-time expectations and any exemptions clearly in the employment contract. For non-exempt supervisors and team leaders, standard daily and weekly limits, as well as overtime pay rules, continue to apply.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, statutory full-time work is generally understood as 48 hours per week for adult employees, usually spread over 6 working days at 8 hours per day. Many urban employers, however, operate a 5-day week with 40 hours, treating this as full-time for contractual and benefits purposes. You should specify in contracts whether full-time in your organisation is 40 or 48 hours.

Part-time arrangements involve fewer hours than the full-time standard but must still respect daily and weekly maximums on a pro-rata basis. Any hours worked by part-time staff beyond their agreed schedule but within 48 hours per week should be clearly classified in policy, and hours beyond the normal full-time threshold must be treated as overtime. Transparent definitions of full-time and part-time status help avoid disputes over overtime entitlements.

Overtime Regulations In Ethiopia

Overtime in Ethiopia is tightly regulated, and employers must obtain employee consent and respect statutory limits before requiring extra hours. You are required to maintain accurate records of all hours worked beyond the normal schedule, including the reason for overtime and the corresponding premium rates paid. Failure to document and compensate overtime correctly can lead to back-pay orders, fines, and potential labour disputes.

What Counts As Overtime In Ethiopia?

In Ethiopia, overtime is any time worked beyond the normal daily limit of 8 hours or the weekly limit of 48 hours for adult employees. Work performed on a weekly rest day, typically Sunday, or on a public holiday is also treated as overtime, even if the total weekly hours do not exceed 48. You should define normal working hours clearly in contracts so that any additional hours can be identified and paid as overtime.

Overtime generally requires the prior agreement of the employee, except in urgent situations such as accidents or force majeure where immediate work is necessary. You must not use overtime systematically to compensate for chronic understaffing, as labour inspectors may treat this as an abuse of the system. All overtime hours must be reflected in payroll with the correct statutory premium applied.

Maximum Overtime In Ethiopia

Under Ethiopian law, overtime is capped at 4 hours per day and 12 hours per week for each employee. This means that on any working day, the combined total of normal hours and overtime cannot exceed 12 hours. You must plan staffing so that these limits are not exceeded, even during peak periods.

There is no explicit annual overtime cap in the Labour Proclamation, but repeated use of the daily and weekly maximums may be scrutinised by labour authorities. In exceptional cases such as emergencies, you may temporarily approach the 4-hours-per-day and 12-hours-per-week ceilings, but you cannot lawfully exceed them without breaching the statute. Internal policies should therefore set lower internal thresholds and require managerial approval when an employee approaches 8 hours of overtime in a week.

Overtime Payout Rates In Ethiopia

Ethiopian law sets specific numerical premiums for overtime work based on when the extra hours are performed. For overtime worked on a normal working day, you must pay at least 150% of the employee’s regular hourly wage, equivalent to a 1.5x rate. This 150% rate applies whether the overtime is calculated on a daily or weekly basis.

For overtime worked during a weekly rest day or a public holiday, the premium is higher. Work performed on a weekly rest day must be paid at a minimum of 200% of the regular hourly wage, or 2.0x. Work performed on a public holiday must be paid at a minimum of 250% of the regular hourly wage, or 2.5x, and these premiums cannot be waived by agreement.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, employees typically work up to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and rest periods are designed to protect health within these limits. The law requires that workers who exceed a set number of continuous hours receive a meal break and that they benefit from daily and weekly rest. As an employer, you must structure schedules so that these breaks are actually taken and not just recorded on paper.

• Meal Break: Employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours must receive at least a 30-minute meal break, which is not counted as working time unless the employee is required to remain at their post.
• Daily Rest: Workers are entitled to a minimum uninterrupted daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours between the end of one workday and the start of the next in Ethiopia.
• Weekly Rest: Employees must receive at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, usually on Sunday, and any work performed during this period must be compensated at the applicable overtime premium.
• Minors: Young workers are subject to stricter limits on daily hours and must receive adequate rest and breaks, and you should avoid scheduling them for evening or extended shifts.
• Employer Duty: Employers must organise work so that statutory breaks and rest periods are respected in practice and must keep reliable records to demonstrate compliance during inspections.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Ethiopia

Night and weekend work are legal in Ethiopia but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must pay the correct statutory premiums where applicable and ensure that health and safety risks associated with irregular hours are properly managed. Written policies and clear communication with staff are essential when introducing night or weekend shifts.

Night work in Ethiopia is generally understood as work performed between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., although specific collective agreements may refine this window. These rules apply across most roles, including manufacturing, security, hospitality, and healthcare, unless a specific legal exemption exists. You should identify in contracts when an employee is hired specifically as a night worker.

• Premium Pay: Ethiopian law does not set a specific statutory night work premium percentage, so there is no mandatory 1.25x or similar rate, and night work is usually paid at the normal hourly rate unless a collective agreement or contract grants a higher premium such as 120% or 1.2x.
• Health Monitoring: While there is no detailed statutory schedule for medical checks, employers are expected under general occupational safety duties to assess health risks for regular night workers and to offer periodic health assessments where night work is prolonged or intensive.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors are generally prohibited from night work, and pregnant or nursing workers should not be assigned to night shifts where this would endanger their health, requiring you to provide alternative day work or suitable adjustments.

Weekend work in Ethiopia often falls on Sunday, which is typically the weekly rest day, and any work performed then must be treated as overtime and paid at a minimum of 200% of the regular hourly wage, or 2.0x. If employees work on their weekly rest day, you must also provide a substitute 24-hour rest period on another day of the week to remain compliant.