Working Hours and Overtime in Fiji

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Fiji?

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 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 8:00 to 17:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Fiji

Under the Employment Relations Act 2007, the standard limit for adult employees is 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, excluding overtime. You should structure rosters so that ordinary hours do not routinely exceed these limits, except where a written agreement or collective agreement lawfully varies the pattern of work. Any variation must still respect daily rest, weekly rest, and health and safety obligations.

Where you introduce compressed weeks or shift systems, you must ensure that the average hours over the agreed reference period do not exceed 48 hours per week. You are required to keep accurate time and wage records showing start and finish times, breaks, and overtime worked. These records are essential to demonstrate compliance during inspections or in the event of a dispute.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Fiji, these sectors often rely on shift work, split shifts, and 24/7 coverage, which can change how daily and weekly hours are distributed while still respecting the 48-hour weekly benchmark. You should document any special patterns in employment contracts or collective agreements and ensure employees understand their rosters.

• 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 Fiji, this typically means monitoring hours over a 4-week or monthly cycle to ensure the average does not exceed 48 hours per week, unless a lawful exemption applies. You should also conduct risk assessments for long or irregular hours to manage fatigue.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial and executive employees in Fiji may be excluded from some overtime provisions where their remuneration package is designed to compensate for longer or irregular hours. However, they are still protected by general health and safety rules and must not be required to work hours that pose a risk to their wellbeing. Any exemption from overtime should be clearly stated in the employment contract and reflected in the salary level.

For professionals and supervisory staff, you can agree on flexible or output-based working arrangements, but you should still define expected weekly hours, availability windows, and rest entitlements. Transparent documentation helps avoid disputes about whether additional hours are included in the salary or should be paid as overtime. You should review these arrangements periodically to ensure they remain fair and compliant.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Fiji

In Fiji, full-time employment is generally based on a 48-hour workweek for adult employees, usually spread over 5 or 6 days. Many employers, especially in office-based roles, adopt a 40-hour week, such as 8 hours per day from Monday to Friday, as a matter of policy or collective agreement. You should specify in each contract what constitutes full-time hours in your organisation.

Part-time and casual employees work fewer than the standard full-time hours but are entitled to pro-rated benefits and overtime where they exceed their agreed ordinary hours. Flexible arrangements, such as staggered start times or compressed weeks, are permissible if they respect the overall weekly limits and rest requirements. Any such variations should be agreed in writing and communicated clearly to staff.

Overtime Regulations In Fiji

Overtime in Fiji is regulated by the Employment Relations Act 2007, and you are responsible for ensuring that any hours worked beyond the employee’s ordinary hours are properly authorised and compensated. You must maintain accurate time and wage records that clearly show ordinary hours, overtime hours, and the applicable rates paid. Failure to do so can lead to arrears of wages, penalties, and orders from the Ministry of Employment or the Employment Relations Tribunal.

What Counts As Overtime In Fiji?

For most adult employees in Fiji, overtime is any time worked in excess of the agreed ordinary daily or weekly hours, typically beyond 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. Work performed outside the employee’s normal rostered hours, including before the usual start time or after the usual finish time, will generally count as overtime if it is requested or approved by you. You should set clear policies that overtime must be pre-approved to avoid disputes.

Work performed on a weekly rest day or public holiday is also treated as overtime and attracts higher statutory rates. In practice, Sunday work and public holiday work are often rostered in advance in sectors like tourism and retail, but they still qualify for premium rates when they fall outside ordinary hours. You should clearly distinguish between ordinary hours on a different day and genuine rest day or holiday overtime in your payroll system.

Maximum Overtime In Fiji

Fiji’s legislation does not prescribe a single fixed numerical overtime cap for all sectors, but the framework is built around a standard 48-hour workweek for adults. As a practical benchmark, you should avoid scheduling more than 12 hours of work per day, including overtime, and more than 60 total hours per week, except in short-term emergencies. Where overtime is needed regularly, you should review staffing levels rather than relying on sustained high overtime.

Some sectoral wages regulations and collective agreements in Fiji set tighter limits, such as capping overtime at 2 to 4 hours per day or 16 hours per week, and you must comply with any such binding instruments. If you need employees to work beyond these agreed caps, you generally require their consent and, in some cases, consultation with unions or worker representatives. You should document any exceptional overtime arrangements and ensure that daily and weekly rest periods are still respected.

Overtime Payout Rates In Fiji

Under the Employment Relations Act 2007 and relevant Wages Regulations Orders, the standard overtime rate in Fiji is at least 1.5x (150%) of the employee’s ordinary hourly rate for hours worked in excess of the normal daily or weekly hours. For work performed on a public holiday, employees are generally entitled to at least 2x (200%) of the ordinary hourly rate for the hours worked. You must calculate these premiums based on the employee’s basic wage, excluding discretionary bonuses.

Where an employee works on their weekly rest day, such as Sunday in many workplaces, they are typically entitled to at least 1.5x (150%) of the ordinary hourly rate, unless a more favourable rate is set by a collective agreement or company policy. If an employee both works overtime and on a public holiday, you should apply the highest applicable statutory rate, which in practice means paying at least 2x (200%) for those hours. Always check any sector-specific wage regulations that may mandate higher premiums and ensure your payroll system applies the correct multipliers.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Fiji

In Fiji, employees commonly work up to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and rest periods are designed to ensure these hours are worked safely and sustainably. The Employment Relations Act 2007 requires that employees who work more than 5 hours in a day receive a meal break and that they also benefit from daily and weekly rest. You should plan rosters and break schedules so that these entitlements are built into the normal working pattern rather than treated as optional.

• Meal Break: In Fiji, employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours must receive a meal break of at least 30 minutes, which is generally unpaid unless your policy or agreement states otherwise. You should schedule this break so that employees do not work excessively long continuous stretches.
• Daily Rest: Employees in Fiji are entitled to a continuous daily rest period of at least 10 to 12 hours between the end of one workday and the start of the next, depending on sectoral rules and agreements. You should avoid split shifts or late-night work followed by early starts that would reduce this rest below the applicable minimum.
• Weekly Rest: The law in Fiji requires at least 1 rest day in every 7-day period, which is commonly a Sunday but can be another day by agreement. If operational needs require work on the usual rest day, you must provide a substitute rest day and pay the applicable overtime or premium rate.
• Minors: Young workers under 18 in Fiji are subject to stricter limits on daily and weekly hours and must receive adequate rest and breaks. You should avoid scheduling minors for night work or long shifts and ensure their education and health are not compromised.
• Employer Duty: As an employer in Fiji, you must organise work so that statutory breaks and rest periods are actually taken, not just recorded on paper. You should monitor workloads and staffing levels to prevent systematic skipping of breaks, which can lead to compliance issues and health and safety risks.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Fiji

Night and weekend work are legal in Fiji but they come with additional responsibilities for employers to protect workers’ health, safety, and family life. You should carefully plan rosters, provide appropriate rest, and ensure that any required premium pay is correctly calculated. Particular attention is needed in sectors that operate 24/7, such as tourism, healthcare, and security.

In Fiji, night work is generally understood as work performed between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., although specific definitions can vary in sectoral regulations or collective agreements. This time window is considered higher risk from a health and safety perspective, so you should assess fatigue, security, and transport arrangements for employees working these hours. Night work rules apply across roles, including blue-collar, service, and professional staff, whenever their scheduled hours fall within this period.

• Premium Pay: Fiji’s employment legislation does not prescribe a specific statutory night work premium, so there is no mandatory percentage such as 25% or 1.25x solely for working at night. In practice, many employers compensate night shifts with a negotiated allowance or higher hourly rate, commonly in the range of 1.10x to 1.25x of the ordinary rate, set by company policy or collective agreement.
• Health Monitoring: While Fiji does not mandate periodic medical examinations for all night workers, you are expected under health and safety duties to assess and manage risks associated with night work. Good practice includes offering health checks or wellness programs to regular night workers and adjusting duties if health issues arise.
• Workplace Restrictions: In Fiji, minors are generally prohibited from night work, particularly in hazardous industries, and you should not schedule workers under 18 for shifts between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Pregnant workers should be protected from heavy, hazardous, or excessively long night shifts, and you should consider transfers to day work or adjusted duties where medically recommended.

Weekend work, including Sunday work, is permitted in Fiji, but employees must still receive at least 1 rest day in every 7-day period. When employees work on their usual weekly rest day, such as Sunday, they are typically entitled to premium pay of at least 1.5x (150%) of the ordinary hourly rate or a substitute rest day, depending on the applicable wage regulations or agreements. You should clearly define in contracts and rosters which day is the weekly rest day and how weekend premiums are applied.