Working Hours and Overtime in Uganda

What Are The Standard Working Hours In Uganda?

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 48 hours per week. A minimum meal interval of 60 minutes must be observed by employees who work more than 8 hours in a day. In typical working hours, Monday through Friday, the hours are 8:00 to 17:00.

Maximum Working Hours In Uganda

Under the Employment Act and common practice in Uganda, the standard limit for adult employees is 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, excluding overtime. You should structure work schedules so that ordinary hours do not routinely exceed these limits, unless a written agreement or collective bargaining agreement provides for an averaging arrangement. Any such arrangement must still respect health and safety obligations and cannot be used to disguise systematic overtime.

Where compressed workweeks or shift systems are used, you may distribute the 48 ordinary hours over fewer than 6 days, provided the daily total does not become excessive and employees receive at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest. You must clearly document working patterns in employment contracts or written notices and maintain accurate time records for each employee. These records are critical if a dispute arises over whether the legal limits have been exceeded.

Industry-Specific Exceptions

Companies hiring in sectors like healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, or hospitality may be subject to special scheduling rules. In Uganda, these sectors often rely on shift work, split shifts, and on-call arrangements to ensure continuity of service, but you remain responsible for ensuring that average weekly hours and minimum rest periods are respected. Collective agreements or sectoral guidelines may allow longer daily shifts, provided compensatory rest and overtime pay are correctly applied.

In practice, healthcare professionals may lawfully work 12-hour shifts if the overall weekly average remains close to 48 hours and they receive adequate rest between shifts. Transport operators must design rosters that comply with driver-fatigue rules and any regional standards, including maximum driving hours and mandatory breaks. Manufacturing and security staff frequently rotate through night or weekend shifts, and you should use written shift rosters to demonstrate compliance with working-time and rest requirements.

• 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 Uganda, a common reference period is 4 weeks, during which the average should not exceed 48 ordinary hours per week plus any lawfully agreed overtime. You should regularly review rosters and attendance data to ensure that peaks in activity do not push employees beyond safe and lawful limits.

Managerial And Exempt Employees

Senior managerial and executive employees in Uganda are often treated as having greater flexibility in their working hours, and some may be excluded from overtime pay by contract. However, they are still protected by general health and safety rules, and you should avoid imposing workloads that effectively require excessive hours on a sustained basis. Any exemption from overtime or specific working-time rules must be clearly stated in the employment contract and consistent with the Employment Act.

Where managers are not fully exempt, you should track their hours and apply overtime rules once they exceed 48 hours per week or the contractual threshold, whichever is lower. Even if a manager receives a higher salary intended to compensate for irregular hours, you should ensure that their total working time remains reasonable and that they receive adequate daily and weekly rest. Transparent documentation of expectations and availability is essential to reduce the risk of disputes.

Statutory Full-Time Working Hours In Uganda

In Uganda, full-time employment is generally understood to mean a schedule of 48 hours per week for adult employees, typically spread over 5 or 6 days. Many employers adopt a 40–45 hour contractual week for competitive and wellbeing reasons, but any hours worked beyond the agreed normal week up to 48 hours should be clearly defined in the contract. Hours beyond 48 per week are normally treated as overtime and must be compensated at the applicable premium rates.

Part-time and shift-based arrangements are permitted, provided the agreed hours, pay structure, and overtime triggers are set out in writing. You may also use flexible or staggered hours, but you must still respect daily and weekly rest requirements and ensure that average hours do not exceed the statutory norms. Clear communication of what constitutes full-time, part-time, and overtime in your organisation will help you remain compliant and manage costs.

Overtime Regulations In Uganda

In Uganda, you must monitor and record all hours worked beyond an employee’s normal contractual schedule and the 48-hour statutory week, as these hours generally qualify as overtime. Accurate timekeeping systems – whether manual timesheets or electronic clocking – are essential to demonstrate that overtime has been correctly authorised, recorded, and paid at the required premium rates. Failure to comply with overtime rules can lead to claims for arrears, penalties imposed by labour officers, and reputational damage.

What Counts As Overtime In Uganda?

Overtime in Uganda typically means any hours worked beyond the employee’s normal daily schedule or beyond 48 hours in a week for adult employees. You should define the normal working week in the employment contract, for example 40 or 45 hours, and clarify that hours above this threshold are overtime, subject to a minimum statutory premium of 1.5x the normal hourly rate for weekday overtime. Work performed on an employee’s weekly rest day or public holiday is also treated as overtime and attracts higher premiums.

If you require employees to remain on-site and available for work outside their normal hours, this on-call time may count as working time and therefore overtime, depending on the level of restriction. You should implement a clear overtime-approval process so that employees do not work extra hours without prior authorisation. Transparent rules on when overtime starts, how it is calculated, and how it is compensated will reduce disputes and support compliance.

Maximum Overtime In Uganda

Ugandan practice, guided by the Employment Act and labour-office directives, generally limits overtime to a maximum of 10 hours per week, meaning total hours should not normally exceed 58 hours in any week for adult employees. In addition, daily working time, including overtime, should not exceed 10 hours on a regular basis, except in genuine emergencies or where a specific written agreement provides for a short-term increase. You should avoid scheduling systematic overtime that pushes employees close to these limits week after week.

Where exceptional business needs arise, labour officers may tolerate temporary increases beyond 10 overtime hours per week, but you should treat 10 hours as the standard cap and seek written employee consent for any additional hours. For planning purposes, many employers in Uganda also apply an internal cap of 50–60 overtime hours per quarter per employee to manage fatigue and cost. If you anticipate sustained high overtime, you should consider hiring additional staff rather than relying on prolonged extended hours.

Overtime Payout Rates In Uganda

In Uganda, the commonly applied statutory minimum overtime rate for work performed beyond normal hours on ordinary working days is 150% of the employee’s basic hourly rate, that is 1.5x. For work performed on the employee’s weekly rest day, such as Sunday for many workers, the typical minimum premium is 200% of the basic hourly rate, or 2.0x. Public holiday work usually attracts a premium of at least 200%–250% of the basic hourly rate, with 2.0x being widely used and 2.5x (250%) applied in some collective agreements.

You should specify the exact overtime rates in the employment contract or HR policy, ensuring that they are never lower than 1.5x for weekday overtime and 2.0x for weekly rest days and public holidays. When calculating overtime, divide the employee’s monthly basic wage by 26 working days and then by the normal daily hours to obtain the hourly rate, and multiply by the applicable premium (for example 1.5x, 2.0x, or 2.5x). Keep detailed payroll records showing the number of overtime hours worked at each rate so you can demonstrate compliance during inspections or disputes.

Rest Periods And Breaks In Uganda

In Uganda, employees commonly work up to 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week, and rest periods are designed to protect their health within these limits. You must schedule meal breaks, daily rest, and weekly rest so that employees are not required to work continuously for long stretches without recovery time. These rest entitlements apply regardless of whether you operate a standard daytime schedule or rotating shifts.

• Meal Break: In Uganda, employees who work more than 8 hours in a day should receive at least a 60-minute uninterrupted meal break, which is typically unpaid. You should schedule this break roughly in the middle of the shift and ensure that employees are free from work duties during this time.
• Daily Rest: Employees are generally entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours between the end of one workday and the start of the next. You should design rosters so that shift changes do not reduce this rest window below 11 hours, except in genuine emergencies with compensatory rest.
• Weekly Rest: Ugandan practice requires at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week, commonly taken on 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, often 2.0x the basic rate.
• Minors: Workers under 18 in Uganda should have shorter working days, typically not exceeding 6 hours, and more frequent breaks. You must avoid scheduling minors for night work and ensure they receive at least one full day of rest per week, in addition to normal daily rest.
• Employer Duty: As an employer in Uganda, you are responsible for planning and enforcing rest periods and breaks, not merely offering them. You should keep rosters and attendance records that show when breaks and rest days were taken, and adjust staffing levels so employees are not pressured to skip rest.

Night Shifts And Weekend Regulations In Uganda

Night and weekend work are legal in Uganda but subject to additional employer responsibilities and employee protections. You must pay particular attention to working-time limits, rest periods, and appropriate compensation when scheduling employees outside normal daytime hours.

Night work in Uganda is commonly defined as work performed between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., although some collective agreements may use a slightly different window such as 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. This definition applies across most roles, including manufacturing, security, healthcare, and hospitality, and you should clearly indicate in contracts when an employee is classified as a night worker.

• Premium Pay: Uganda does not prescribe a specific statutory night work premium in the Employment Act, so there is no mandatory percentage such as 25% written into law. In practice, many employers pay a night-shift allowance of 20%–30% of the basic hourly rate, for example 1.2x–1.3x, and you should state your exact night premium clearly in contracts or policies.
• Health Monitoring: While there is no explicit statutory requirement for periodic medical checks for night workers in Uganda, you are expected under occupational safety and health principles to monitor fatigue and health risks. Providing voluntary health assessments and adjusting schedules for employees who experience health issues related to night work is considered good practice.
• Workplace Restrictions: In Uganda, minors under 18 should not normally be employed in night work, especially in hazardous sectors such as mining, construction, or industrial plants. Pregnant workers should be removed from night shifts upon medical advice or request and offered alternative day work where reasonably practicable.

Weekend work, including Sunday work where Sunday is the customary rest day, is permitted in Uganda but must respect weekly rest requirements and overtime rules. When employees work on their weekly rest day, you should provide a substitute 24-hour rest period and pay at least 2.0x their basic hourly rate for those hours, and clearly document this arrangement in your rosters and payroll records.