Working Hours and Overtime in Mauritania

In Mauritania, your company must comply with working hour and overtime laws – including daily limits, overtime thresholds, and rest requirements – to stay compliant and build a strong employee experience.

As you plan staffing and scheduling, you should align contracts, internal policies, and time‑tracking practices with the statutory 40‑hour workweek, applicable overtime rules, and mandatory daily and weekly rest. This includes defining clear procedures for authorizing overtime, applying the correct premium rates, and documenting hours worked so you can demonstrate compliance during inspections or in the event of a dispute. Looking ahead to 2026, regulators are expected to continue focusing on transparency in working‑time records, protection of vulnerable workers such as minors and night‑shift staff, and stronger enforcement of sanctions where employers systematically exceed legal limits or fail to pay overtime correctly.

• Standard Working Hours
• Overtime Thresholds
• Overtime Pay Rates
• Daily And Weekly Rest Requirements
• Night Work Restrictions
• Penalties For Non-Compliance

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Mauritania?

An employee whose age is 16 or younger has a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. An employee whose age is 18 or older is allowed to work 40 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 30 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 6 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 8:00 to 16:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Mauritania

Under Mauritanian labour law, the statutory working time for most private‑sector employees is capped at 40 hours per week, usually spread over five or six days. Daily working time is commonly limited to around 8 hours, excluding unpaid meal breaks. As an employer, you should structure schedules so that the weekly total – including any additional hours – does not systematically exceed this limit without being treated and compensated as overtime.

Working hours must be recorded accurately, whether employees are on fixed schedules, rotating shifts, or part‑time arrangements. Any change to normal working hours – for example, seasonal peaks or extended opening hours – should be reflected in written work rules or employment contracts and communicated in advance. You should also ensure that working time is organized in a way that respects mandatory daily and weekly rest periods.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

• Agriculture And Livestock Operations
• Mining, Oil, And Gas Extraction
• Transport And Logistics Services
• Hotels, Restaurants, And Tourism
• Security, Guarding, And Surveillance
• Healthcare And Emergency Services

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managers and employees who have genuine decision‑making authority may be subject to more flexible working‑time arrangements. In practice, these employees often work beyond the standard 40‑hour week without the same overtime entitlements as non‑managerial staff, provided their higher level of responsibility and remuneration is clearly reflected in their contracts. However, you should not assume that all white‑collar or supervisory staff are automatically exempt – the role must be truly managerial or involve a high degree of autonomy.

Even for exempt or managerial employees, you remain responsible for protecting health and safety. This means avoiding excessive working hours, ensuring reasonable rest periods, and monitoring workloads. Where there is doubt about an employee’s status, it is safer to treat additional hours as overtime and compensate them accordingly, or to introduce a clear flat‑rate arrangement that is compliant with local law and transparently documented.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Mauritania

Full‑time employment in Mauritania is generally based on a 40‑hour workweek. This is the benchmark you should use when defining full‑time roles, calculating pro‑rated entitlements for part‑time staff, and determining when overtime begins. Contracts should specify the normal weekly and daily hours, the distribution of those hours across the week, and the place of work.

When you introduce flexible or shift‑based schedules, ensure that the average weekly hours over the reference period do not exceed the statutory 40‑hour standard, unless the excess is treated as overtime. Clear internal policies on working time, overtime approval, and time‑tracking will help you demonstrate compliance in the event of an inspection or dispute.

Overtime Regulations In Mauritania

What Counts As Overtime In Mauritania?

Overtime in Mauritania is generally any working time performed beyond the statutory full‑time schedule of 40 hours per week, or beyond the normal daily hours set in the employment contract or collective agreement. Once an employee has completed their contracted weekly hours, any additional hours you request or approve – whether on regular workdays, at night, or on weekly rest days and public holidays – should be treated as overtime.

Overtime should be exceptional and justified by business needs such as peak activity, urgent work, or unforeseen operational issues. It must be requested or at least approved by the employer; you should have a clear policy stating that overtime must be pre‑authorized. Keeping accurate records of overtime hours, reasons, and corresponding payments is essential to demonstrate compliance and to avoid disputes over unpaid work.

Maximum Overtime In Mauritania

Mauritanian rules aim to prevent excessive overtime that could endanger employees’ health and safety. While specific caps can be set by regulations or collective agreements, a common approach is to limit overtime to a defined number of hours per week and per year, in addition to the 40‑hour standard. As an employer, you should avoid scheduling employees in a way that regularly pushes them far beyond 48 hours per week, including overtime, and you should always respect mandatory daily and weekly rest periods.

In practice, you should implement internal controls – such as prior written approval for overtime, monthly reporting on overtime volumes, and periodic reviews of staffing levels – to ensure that overtime remains within reasonable limits. If your operations require frequent or sustained overtime, consider hiring additional staff or reorganizing shifts rather than relying on continuous extended hours, which can increase legal, health, and productivity risks.

Overtime Payout Rates In Mauritania

Overtime work in Mauritania must be compensated at a higher rate than normal hours. Although exact percentages can vary depending on the time when overtime is performed and any applicable collective agreement, a typical structure is to apply a premium for overtime on regular workdays, a higher premium for night work, and even higher rates for overtime performed on weekly rest days or public holidays.

To remain compliant, you should clearly define overtime rates in employment contracts or internal policies, referencing any sectoral agreements where applicable. Overtime pay is usually calculated on the basis of the employee’s normal hourly wage, with the relevant percentage increase applied to each overtime hour. In some cases, and only with the employee’s agreement and where permitted by law, you may offer compensatory rest in lieu of cash payment, but the value of the rest must be at least equivalent to the overtime premium that would otherwise have been due.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Mauritania

Employees in Mauritania typically work around 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, and rest periods and breaks are designed to protect their health within these limits. As an employer, you must integrate meal breaks into the working day, ensure sufficient daily rest between shifts, and guarantee weekly rest so that employees are not working continuously without adequate recovery time, especially when overtime or shift work is involved.

• Meal Break Requirements
• Daily Rest
• Weekly Rest
• Minors
• Employer Duties