Working Hours and Overtime in Seychelles

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Seychelles?

An employee whose age is 15 or younger has a maximum of 6 hours per day and 30 hours per week. An employee whose age is 16 or older is allowed to work 60 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 16:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Seychelles

Under the Employment Act, the normal working hours for most employees in Seychelles are 8 hours per day and 60 hours per week, inclusive of any authorized overtime built into shift systems. Employers must ensure that daily hours are clearly scheduled in employment contracts or written rosters, and that any variation still respects the weekly ceiling. Where shift work is used, you should verify that the average hours over the roster cycle do not exceed 60 hours per week.

Any work beyond the agreed normal hours is treated as overtime and must be specifically authorized and recorded. Employers are required to maintain accurate time and attendance records to demonstrate compliance with daily and weekly limits. Failure to document hours properly can make it difficult to defend claims about excessive work or unpaid overtime.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Seychelles, these sectors often rely on shift systems that can extend individual shifts beyond 8 hours, provided that the total weekly hours and rest requirements are respected. You should review any sectoral regulations or permits that apply to your operations, especially where continuous service is required.

• 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 Seychelles, this typically means that rosters are designed so that total hours, including overtime, do not exceed 60 hours in any week without specific authorization from the competent authority. Employers should also monitor fatigue risks when using compressed or rotating schedules.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial and supervisory employees in Seychelles may have more flexible working patterns, but they are not automatically exempt from the statutory framework on working time. Their contracts should clearly define expected hours, availability outside normal office times, and how any overtime or additional responsibility allowance is handled. Where managers are paid a global salary that is deemed to cover reasonable additional hours, this must still be consistent with health and safety obligations and the 60-hour weekly ceiling.

Employers should avoid assuming that a managerial title alone removes the need to track hours. Keeping at least indicative records of working time helps demonstrate that managers are not routinely working beyond safe limits. It also reduces the risk of disputes about whether a global salary adequately compensates for extended hours.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Seychelles

In Seychelles, full-time employment is generally based on a schedule of 8 hours per day and up to 60 hours per week, depending on the sector and shift pattern. Many office-based roles operate on a 40-hour week, but the law allows higher weekly totals where properly structured and compensated. Your contracts should specify the normal weekly hours that define full-time status in your business.

Part-time and shift-based arrangements are permitted as long as they are documented and respect daily and weekly limits. When varying full-time hours, you must ensure that changes are agreed in writing and do not reduce employees below statutory protections such as minimum rest and overtime entitlements. Consistent application of these rules across your workforce supports fairness and compliance.

Overtime Regulations In Seychelles

Overtime in Seychelles is tightly regulated, and employers must obtain employees’ agreement and, in some cases, prior approval from the Ministry of Employment for extended overtime arrangements. You are required to keep detailed records of all hours worked beyond normal schedules, including the dates, duration, and applicable overtime rates. Non-compliance with overtime rules can lead to back-pay orders, penalties, and reputational risk.

What Counts As Overtime In Seychelles?

Overtime in Seychelles generally means any hours worked beyond the employee’s normal daily or weekly hours as set out in the contract, subject to the statutory ceiling of 60 hours per week. Work performed on a designated rest day or public holiday is also treated as overtime, even if the weekly total remains within 60 hours. Employers must obtain prior consent from the employee for overtime, except in genuine emergencies affecting safety or essential services.

Where shift systems are used, overtime is triggered when an employee works beyond the scheduled shift or is called in outside the rostered hours. In Seychelles, standby or on-call time that requires the employee to remain at the workplace is normally counted as working time and can generate overtime once normal hours are exceeded. You should define in writing how call-outs and standby are compensated to avoid ambiguity.

Maximum Overtime In Seychelles

Under Seychelles law, the combined total of normal hours and overtime must not exceed 60 hours in any week for most employees. This effectively means that if your normal schedule is 45 hours per week, you can only require up to 15 hours of overtime in that week. Employers should plan staffing so that overtime remains exceptional rather than routine.

Where business needs require more extensive overtime, you may seek authorization from the Ministry of Employment to exceed usual limits for a defined period, typically with strict conditions. Even with such approval, you must still respect daily rest and health and safety requirements, and you should avoid patterns where employees consistently work close to 60 hours every week. If no specific approval is granted, you should treat 60 hours per week as the hard cap for total working time.

Overtime Payout Rates In Seychelles

In Seychelles, the statutory minimum overtime rate for work performed beyond normal hours on a regular working day is 1.5x the employee’s basic hourly rate, equivalent to 150 percent pay. When overtime is worked on a weekly rest day or a public holiday, the minimum rate increases to 2.0x the basic hourly rate, equivalent to 200 percent pay. These multipliers apply to all eligible employees unless a more favorable rate is provided in a contract or collective agreement.

Overtime calculations are normally based on the employee’s basic wage divided by the standard number of hours in the pay period, excluding discretionary bonuses. Employers should ensure that payroll systems correctly apply the 1.5x and 2.0x multipliers and that payslips clearly show overtime hours and rates. Failure to pay the correct numerical premium can result in orders to pay arrears plus potential penalties.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Seychelles

In Seychelles, employees commonly work around 8 hours per day and up to 60 hours per week, and rest periods are designed to protect health within these limits. The law requires that workers who exceed 5 hours in a day receive a meal break and that they benefit from daily and weekly rest away from work. As an employer, you must structure schedules so that these breaks fit logically around your standard working hours.

• Meal Break: Employees who work more than 5 consecutive hours in Seychelles are entitled to a meal break of at least 30 minutes, which should be scheduled so that staff can reasonably rest and eat. You should state in contracts whether this break is paid or unpaid and ensure that operational demands do not routinely cut into this minimum.
• Daily Rest: Workers in Seychelles must generally receive a continuous daily rest period of at least 11 hours between the end of one workday and the start of the next. When using split shifts or late finishes, you must check that this 11-hour gap is preserved.
• Weekly Rest: Employees are entitled to at least one full rest day per week in Seychelles, which is often Sunday or another agreed day. If business needs require work on the usual rest day, you must provide a substitute rest day and pay the applicable overtime premium.
• Minors: Young workers under 18 in Seychelles are subject to stricter limits on daily hours and must receive adequate breaks to prevent fatigue. They should not be scheduled for night work or excessively long shifts that undermine their education or wellbeing.
• Employer Duty: Employers in Seychelles are responsible for organizing work so that statutory breaks and rest periods are actually taken, not just written into policy. You should monitor rosters and actual attendance to ensure that operational pressures do not erode these protections.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Seychelles

Night and weekend work are legal in Seychelles but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must pay attention to working-time limits, rest periods, and any applicable premium rates when scheduling staff outside normal daytime hours. Proper planning and documentation are essential to demonstrate compliance.

Night work in Seychelles is generally understood as work performed between 22:00 and 05:00, although specific contracts or sectoral rules may define a slightly different window. This definition applies across most roles, including hospitality, healthcare, security, and manufacturing where 24-hour operations are common. Employees who regularly work during this period are considered night workers and may require additional safeguards.

• Premium Pay: Seychelles law does not prescribe a specific statutory night work premium, so there is no fixed percentage such as 25 percent or 1.25x mandated solely for night hours. In practice, many employers compensate night shifts with a contractual allowance or by applying at least a 1.25x multiplier to the basic hourly rate, in addition to any overtime premiums where total hours exceed normal limits.
• Health Monitoring: While there is no detailed statutory schedule for medical checks, employers in Seychelles are expected under general health and safety duties to monitor the wellbeing of regular night workers. This often includes offering periodic health assessments and adjusting duties or schedules if night work adversely affects an employee’s health.
• Workplace Restrictions: Minors under 18 in Seychelles should not normally be employed in night work, particularly in hazardous environments such as industrial sites or security roles. Pregnant workers are also protected, and you should avoid assigning them to night shifts where this could pose health risks, offering alternative duties or schedules where reasonably practicable.

Weekend work, including Sunday, is permitted in Seychelles, but Sunday is commonly treated as a weekly rest day in many sectors. If employees are required to work on their designated rest day, you must provide a substitute rest day and pay overtime at no less than 2.0x the basic hourly rate when Sunday or a public holiday is worked. Clear policies on weekend scheduling and premiums help maintain fairness and reduce disputes.