Working Hours and Overtime in Kenya

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Kenya?

An employee whose age is 16 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 52 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 Kenya

Under the Employment Act and common practice in Kenya, the standard limit for non-shift employees is 52 hours per week, usually spread over six days. For many office-based roles, employers commonly apply 40 to 45 hours per week, but this is a contractual choice rather than a statutory cap. You should clearly state the normal daily and weekly hours in each employment contract.

Daily hours are typically 8 to 9 hours, excluding the meal break, and any work beyond the agreed daily or weekly schedule is treated as overtime. Collective bargaining agreements in sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and security may set lower weekly limits or different daily patterns, but they cannot undercut minimum protections in the Employment Act. As an employer, you must monitor total hours worked, including overtime, to ensure employees are not subjected to excessive or unsafe schedules.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In healthcare, 12-hour shifts are common, but you must ensure adequate rest between shifts and compliance with overtime pay rules. In hospitality and retail, split shifts and extended evening hours are frequent, so accurate timekeeping is essential.

Transport workers must comply with road safety and fatigue-management rules, including limits on continuous driving and mandatory rest breaks aligned with regional and, where applicable, EU-style standards. Manufacturing and security staff often rotate through night or weekend shifts, and you must ensure that shift rotations still respect the weekly hour limits and overtime compensation rules. Even in these sectors, you must ensure the average weekly limit is respected over a reference period.

• 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. You should document any special shift patterns in writing and align them with applicable collective agreements. Regular reviews of rosters help you identify and correct any breaches early.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

In Kenya, senior managerial, supervisory, and certain trust-based roles are often treated as not strictly bound by the standard hourly limits, especially where they have autonomy over their schedules. However, the Employment Act still protects these employees against abusive working hours and requires that their overall workload be reasonable. You should avoid assuming that all managers are automatically exempt from overtime without clear contractual wording.

Where you classify employees as managerial or exempt, their contracts should explicitly describe the nature of their responsibilities, expected working patterns, and how their salary compensates for additional hours. If you choose to pay overtime to managers despite an exemption, you must specify the applicable rate, such as 1.5x for extra hours or 2.0x for rest days, to avoid disputes. Transparent classification and documentation reduce the risk of claims for unpaid overtime.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Kenya

In Kenya, full-time work is generally understood as 40 to 52 hours per week, depending on the sector and the applicable collective agreement. Many white-collar roles use a 40- to 45-hour week, while retail, hospitality, and manufacturing often operate closer to the 48- to 52-hour range. You should define full-time hours explicitly in each employment contract.

Part-time and shift-based arrangements are permitted, provided that the agreed hours, overtime rules, and rest periods comply with the Employment Act. When you vary full-time hours through flexible or compressed schedules, ensure that the average weekly hours over the agreed reference period do not exceed the statutory or agreed limits. Written consent and clear policies are essential when implementing alternative working-time models.

Overtime Regulations In Kenya

Employers in Kenya must track all hours worked beyond the contracted schedule and apply statutory overtime rates where applicable. Accurate time and attendance records are critical, as disputes over unpaid overtime can lead to claims before the Employment and Labour Relations Court. Non-compliance with overtime rules exposes you to back-pay liabilities, penalties, and reputational damage.

What Counts As Overtime In Kenya?

Overtime in Kenya generally means any hours worked beyond the normal daily or weekly hours specified in the employment contract, subject to the statutory framework. For many employees, this means work beyond 8 to 9 hours per day or beyond 40 to 52 hours per week, depending on the agreed schedule. You should define the normal working hours in writing so that overtime triggers are clear.

Work performed on an employee’s weekly rest day, typically Sunday, or on a public holiday is also treated as overtime and attracts higher statutory rates. In practice, hours worked on rest days and public holidays are often compensated at 2.0x the normal hourly rate, while ordinary overtime on regular days is paid at 1.5x. You must obtain prior consent for overtime where possible and avoid imposing excessive overtime that could be considered unreasonable.

Maximum Overtime In Kenya

Kenyan law and common industrial practice generally limit overtime to a maximum of 4 hours on any working day and 12 hours in any week, resulting in a combined total of 60 hours when added to a 48-hour standard week. Many collective bargaining agreements further restrict overtime to 2 to 3 hours per day and 10 to 12 hours per week to protect employee health. You should check the specific CBA or sectoral order that applies to your workforce.

On a monthly basis, employers commonly cap overtime at around 48 to 60 hours, although this figure can vary by sector and agreement. If you need employees to exceed these thresholds, you should obtain written consent and, where applicable, consult with union representatives or workplace committees. Where no explicit statutory annual cap is set, it is prudent to monitor that total overtime does not regularly exceed 624 hours per year, which equates to 12 hours per week over 52 weeks.

Overtime Payout Rates In Kenya

In Kenya, the standard statutory overtime rate for hours worked beyond the normal daily or weekly schedule on ordinary working days is 1.5x the employee’s basic hourly rate. For work performed on the designated weekly rest day, typically Sunday, the common statutory rate is 2.0x the normal hourly rate. Public holiday work is also generally paid at 2.0x the basic hourly rate under most wage orders and CBAs.

Where employees work overtime at night in addition to exceeding normal hours, you should still apply at least 1.5x for ordinary overtime and 2.0x for rest days and public holidays, unless a CBA grants a higher multiplier. Piece-rate or commission-based workers should have an equivalent hourly rate calculated so that the 1.5x and 2.0x multipliers can be applied transparently. All overtime payments should be itemized separately on the payslip to demonstrate compliance.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Kenya

In Kenya, employees commonly work between 8 and 9 hours per day and up to 52 hours per week, depending on the sector and contract. Rest periods and breaks are designed to ensure that these daily and weekly hours do not compromise employee health and safety. As an employer, you must schedule and monitor breaks so they align with the actual working hours in your business.

• Meal Break: Employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours must receive at least a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break under Kenyan practice and wage orders. You should ensure this break is clearly scheduled and not counted as paid working time unless your policy or CBA states otherwise.
• Daily Rest: Employees are generally entitled to a minimum of 12 consecutive hours of rest between the end of one workday and the start of the next. This means that if an employee finishes at 20:00, their next shift should not begin before 8:00 the following day.
• Weekly Rest: Kenyan law requires at least one rest day after every six consecutive working days, typically Sunday in many sectors. If operational needs require Sunday work, you must provide a substitute rest day and pay the applicable overtime premium, often 2.0x the normal rate.
• Minors: Employees under 18 are subject to stricter limits on daily hours and must receive more frequent rest breaks. You should avoid scheduling minors for night work or extended shifts and always comply with the Employment Act provisions on child and young workers.
• Employer Duty: Employers must organize work so that statutory breaks, daily rest, and weekly rest are actually taken, not just written into policy. You should keep rosters and attendance records that demonstrate compliance and adjust staffing levels to prevent systematic denial of rest periods.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Kenya

Night and weekend work are legal in Kenya but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must ensure that employees working these schedules receive appropriate rest, overtime pay, and, where applicable, enhanced protections for vulnerable groups. Proper planning and documentation are essential to demonstrate compliance.

Night work in Kenya is commonly defined in wage orders and CBAs as work performed between 19:00 and 06:00, although some agreements may use a slightly different window such as 22:00 to 06:00. The definition generally applies across roles, including manufacturing, security, healthcare, and hospitality staff who regularly work overnight. You should specify in contracts or policies what your organization treats as night work, aligned with the relevant wage order or CBA.

• Premium Pay: Kenyan law does not prescribe a universal statutory night work premium, so there is no fixed percentage such as 25% or 1.25x mandated nationwide. In practice, many CBAs and company policies provide night shift allowances or enhanced rates ranging from 1.10x to 1.50x of the basic hourly rate, and you should clearly state any such premium in the contract.
• Health Monitoring: While the Employment Act does not impose a blanket requirement for medical checks for all night workers, employers are expected under occupational safety and health rules to protect employees from fatigue-related risks. For regular night workers, especially in safety-sensitive roles like transport or security, you should consider periodic health assessments and fatigue management measures.
• Workplace Restrictions: Kenyan law restricts night work for minors, and children under 18 should not be employed in night shifts except under very limited and regulated circumstances. Pregnant workers should not be compelled to perform night work, and you should offer reasonable adjustments or alternative duties where night schedules pose health or safety concerns.

Weekend work, particularly on Sunday, is treated as work on a weekly rest day and generally attracts a premium of 2.0x the normal hourly rate when it exceeds the standard schedule. If employees work on their designated rest day, you must also grant a substitute rest day within the same week or pay the applicable overtime rate as provided in the relevant wage order or CBA. Clear rostering and consent procedures help you manage weekend coverage while remaining compliant.