Working Hours and Overtime in Kuwait

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Kuwait?

An employee whose age is 15 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 48 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 60 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 8:00 to 17:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Kuwait

Under the Kuwait Labour Law, the general limit for adult employees is 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, excluding unpaid meal and rest breaks. You must structure schedules so that employees do not exceed these limits on a regular basis, unless a specific statutory exception applies. Any work beyond these thresholds is treated as overtime and must be compensated at the applicable premium rate.

Working hours may be reduced during the month of Ramadan, typically to 36 hours per week for Muslim employees, and many employers extend similar reductions to all staff as a matter of policy. You should clearly document normal and Ramadan hours in employment contracts and internal regulations. Maintain accurate daily and weekly time records to demonstrate compliance in the event of an inspection or dispute.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Kuwait, the Labour Law allows the Ministry to authorize different daily or weekly limits where the nature of the work requires continuous operation, such as hospitals, ports, or certain industrial plants. In these cases, you may redistribute hours over reference periods, provided the average does not exceed 48 hours per week and overtime premiums are paid when daily or weekly thresholds are surpassed.

• 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 also conduct regular fatigue and safety assessments where long or irregular shifts are used, and adjust staffing levels if employees are consistently approaching the legal maximums.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial employees who have authority over hiring, firing, and policy decisions may be partially exempt from certain working-time and overtime provisions under Kuwait law. However, you cannot simply label an employee as “managerial” to avoid paying overtime; their actual duties and level of autonomy must meet the statutory criteria. For most mid-level supervisors and professionals, the 8-hour day and 48-hour week still apply, and overtime must be paid when limits are exceeded.

Employment contracts for managerial and exempt staff should clearly describe their working-time expectations, availability outside normal hours, and whether their salary is deemed to cover a reasonable amount of additional work. Even where exemptions apply, you remain responsible for protecting health and safety, avoiding excessive hours, and granting weekly rest and annual leave.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Kuwait

In Kuwait, full-time employment is generally based on the statutory maximum of 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week for adult workers. Many employers adopt a 5-day week of around 8.5 to 9 hours per day, including unpaid breaks, to reach approximately 40 to 45 paid hours, while still remaining within the legal ceiling. Any reduction below these limits is a matter of company policy or collective agreement, not a change to the statutory definition.

Part-time or reduced-hours arrangements are permitted if they are clearly documented and do not circumvent minimum wage, overtime, or social security obligations. When employees regularly work close to the full-time threshold, you should review whether their status and benefits align with full-time norms to avoid misclassification risks.

Overtime Regulations In Kuwait

Overtime in Kuwait is tightly regulated, and you must obtain the employee’s consent and ensure that overtime is used only when necessary. You are required to keep detailed records of hours worked, overtime performed, and corresponding payments at the statutory premium rates. Failure to document and pay overtime correctly exposes your business to back-pay claims, administrative fines, and potential labour court disputes.

What Counts As Overtime In Kuwait?

Overtime for adult employees in Kuwait is any work performed beyond 8 hours in a day or 48 hours in a week, excluding unpaid breaks. Work performed outside the employee’s scheduled daily hours, if requested by you, is also treated as overtime even if the weekly total remains within 48 hours. In addition, work performed on the employee’s weekly rest day or on official public holidays is treated as overtime and attracts higher premium rates.

Overtime must be ordered or approved by the employer, and you should have a clear written procedure for authorizing extra hours. You cannot rely on informal arrangements or voluntary extra work to avoid paying the statutory overtime premiums, and any such hours must still be recorded and compensated.

Maximum Overtime In Kuwait

Under Kuwait Labour Law, overtime is capped at 2 hours per day, 6 hours per week, and 180 hours per year per employee, and it may not be scheduled on more than 90 days in a year. These caps apply to most private-sector employees and are designed to prevent excessive working hours that could endanger health and safety. You must plan staffing so that operational peaks are covered without systematically breaching these numerical limits.

In exceptional circumstances such as emergencies or urgent maintenance, the Ministry may allow temporary deviations, but you should treat the 2-hour daily and 6-hour weekly caps as the default ceiling. If an employee is approaching the annual limit of 180 overtime hours or 90 overtime days, you should adjust rosters, hire additional staff, or reorganize work to remain compliant.

Overtime Payout Rates In Kuwait

Kuwait mandates specific numerical overtime premiums that you must apply whenever employees exceed normal hours. For regular overtime on a normal working day, you must pay at least 125% of the employee’s normal hourly wage, meaning a 1.25x multiplier for each overtime hour. This rate applies whether the overtime is calculated on a daily or weekly basis, as long as it exceeds the statutory limits.

For overtime worked during the weekly rest day, you must pay at least 150% of the normal wage (1.5x) in addition to granting a substitute rest day. For work performed on official public holidays, the premium increases to at least 200% of the normal wage (2.0x), reflecting the heightened protection for holiday work. You should clearly show these 125%, 150%, and 200% rates on payslips so employees can verify that overtime has been correctly calculated.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Kuwait

In Kuwait, employees generally work up to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and rest periods are structured around these limits to protect health and safety. The law requires that no employee works more than 5 consecutive hours without a meal or rest break, and that they receive daily and weekly rest in addition to annual leave. As an employer, you must integrate these breaks into your scheduling so that operational needs are met without breaching statutory rest entitlements.

• Meal Break: Employees may not work more than 5 consecutive hours without a break of at least 60 minutes, and this break is generally unpaid and excluded from working-time calculations in Kuwait.
• Daily Rest: Workers must receive a minimum continuous rest period of 11 hours between the end of one workday and the start of the next, and you should design shifts to avoid compressing this interval.
• Weekly Rest: Employees are entitled to at least one full paid rest day per week, typically Friday in Kuwait, and any work on this day must be compensated at premium rates with a substitute rest day.
• Minors: Workers under 18 years benefit from shorter daily limits, longer rest periods, and are prohibited from night work, so you must schedule them more conservatively than adults.
• Employer Duty: You are responsible for organizing work so that statutory breaks and rest periods are actually taken, documenting schedules, and intervening if employees skip breaks to meet workload demands.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Kuwait

Night and weekend work are legal in Kuwait but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must pay attention to restrictions for vulnerable groups, ensure safe working conditions, and apply the correct premium rates where required.

Night work in Kuwait is generally understood as work performed between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., although specific sectors may define a slightly different window in internal policies. These hours are more tightly regulated for women in certain roles and for workers under 18, and you should verify that job assignments and rosters comply with these restrictions.

• Premium Pay: Kuwait Labour Law does not prescribe a specific statutory percentage premium solely for night work, so there is no mandatory 1.25x or 25% night differential; instead, night work is typically compensated at the normal rate unless it also qualifies as overtime, in which case the 125%, 150%, or 200% overtime premiums apply.
• Health Monitoring: While there is no explicit statutory requirement for periodic medical exams for night workers, you are strongly advised to offer health assessments and fatigue monitoring for employees regularly scheduled between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. to mitigate risks related to sleep disruption and long-term health.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors under 18 are prohibited from working at night and in hazardous environments, and pregnant workers should be reassigned away from night shifts or heavy work where medical advice indicates a risk.

Weekend work in Kuwait typically concerns Friday, which is the standard weekly rest day, and in some organizations Saturday as well. If employees work on their designated weekly rest day, you must pay at least 150% of the normal wage (1.5x) and grant a substitute rest day, and if the day coincides with a public holiday the premium increases to at least 200% (2.0x).