UAE overtime calculator

How UAE overtime pay works in 2026

The rules sit in Articles 17 to 21 and Article 28 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, the federal labour law that MOHRE administers, with the detail filled in by Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022. They are summarised in plain language on u.ae. They apply to onshore private sector contracts in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and every other emirate. The DIFC and ADGM financial free zones run their own employment regulations and are outside this tool.

1. Normal working hours are at most 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week under Article 17(1). Anything above the normal hours in the contract is overtime.
2. Work out the basic hourly wage from the monthly basic wage. The law sets the rates but never a divisor, so the calculator offers the two conventions in use and shows the working.
3. Ordinary overtime is the basic hourly wage plus not less than 25 per cent, so 125 per cent.
4. Overtime between 10 pm and 4 am is the basic hourly wage plus not less than 50 per cent, so 150 per cent, unless the worker works on the basis of shifts.
5. Work on the weekly rest day or a public holiday is either compensated with another day off, or paid at 150 per cent.
6. Check the total against the limits: two overtime hours a day, and 144 total working hours every three weeks.

Article 65(1) makes all of this a floor rather than a ceiling. A contract, a company policy or a collective arrangement can pay more than the statutory percentages, and where it does, the more beneficial terms apply. Nothing can pay less.

What the basic hourly wage is worked out from

Article 19 ties overtime to the basic wage, and Article 1 of the decree defines the basic wage as the wage stipulated in the employment contract for the work itself, paid on a monthly, weekly, daily, hourly or piecework basis, excluding any other allowances or benefits in kind. Housing, transport, utilities and similar allowances are therefore outside the overtime base. That is a different figure from the "wage" in Article 1, which does include cash allowances and benefits in kind and is used elsewhere in the law.

Neither the decree nor the regulation states how to turn a monthly basic wage into an hourly one, so the calculator offers both conventions and prints the working next to the result:

• Monthly basic wage divided by 30 days, then by the contracted hours a day. This is the divisor UAE HR vendors publish, for example Bayzat and web.hr, both of which set out basic salary divided by 30 days and then by 8 hours. It matches the 30 day month already used for the daily wage in end of service gratuity, and it is the default here.
• Monthly basic wage divided by the annualised contracted hours, that is monthly basic multiplied by 12 and divided by contracted weekly hours multiplied by 52. This tracks the hours actually contracted and produces a higher hourly rate than the 30 day month on a five or six day week.

On a basic wage of AED 9,000 with an eight hour day, the first method gives AED 37.50 an hour and the second, on a 40 hour week, gives AED 51.92. Pick whichever your contract or payroll policy uses, and keep it consistent from month to month.

Night hours, and the shift worker exception

Article 19(3) says that if work conditions require overtime between 10 pm and 4 am, the worker is entitled to the wage for normal working hours on the basic wage plus an increase of not less than 50 per cent. The same clause ends with a carve out: workers working on the basis of shifts are excluded.

u.ae states the point the same way, that the rate could increase to 50 per cent if overtime is done between 10 pm and 4 am, and that the rule does not apply to workers who work on the basis of shifts. A rostered night shift is therefore normal working time for that worker, and any overtime on top of it is paid at the ordinary 125 per cent. The calculator has a tick box for this, and drops the night rate back to 125 per cent when it is on.

Rest days and public holidays

Article 21 gives every worker a paid weekend of not less than one day, set in the employment contract or the work regulation. Article 19(4) then covers working it: the employee is compensated with another day off, or paid the wage of that day at the rate established for normal working days plus an increase of not less than 50 per cent of the basic wage for that day. Article 19(5) adds that a worker may not be instructed to work more than two consecutive weekend days, except for day workers.

Article 28 gives the same structure for public holidays, which are set by Cabinet resolution: official days off on full pay, and where the work conditions require the day to be worked, another day off for each day worked or the wage for that day at the normal working day rate plus not less than 50 per cent of the basic wage. The calculator lets you set each of the two either way, and adds nothing to the pay when a substitute day off is taken.

The limits: two hours a day and 144 hours in three weeks

Article 19(1) allows the employer to instruct overtime provided it does not exceed two hours a day, and adds that in all cases total working hours must not exceed 144 hours every three weeks. Article 15(3) of the Implementing Regulation repeats both and gives the only exception to the daily limit: work necessary to prevent a serious loss or a serious accident, or to remove or reduce its effects.

The two limits interact in a way that is easy to miss. A contract of 48 normal hours a week, the statutory maximum, already reaches 144 hours across three weeks before a single hour of overtime, so on that pattern the three week ceiling leaves no headroom at all. A 40 hour week leaves 24 hours across the same window. The calculator flags both limits when the figures entered pass them, and it still prices the hours, because work already done has to be paid.

Article 18 sits alongside them: no more than five consecutive hours without one or more breaks totalling at least an hour, and those breaks are not counted inside the working hours.

Ramadan hours

Article 17(4) of the decree hands Ramadan hours to the Implementing Regulation, and Article 15(2) of Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022 states that the regular working hours are reduced by two hours during the holy month of Ramadan. MOHRE confirmed the same two hour daily reduction for private sector employees in the UAE in its announcement of 12 February 2026, noting that companies may use flexible or remote arrangements within the reduced hours.

The wage does not change, so an eight hour day becomes six hours for the same pay, and the seventh hour is overtime. The calculator keeps the basic hourly wage derived from the standard contracted hours for that reason, and only moves the threshold at which work becomes overtime. Ramadan moves through the Gregorian calendar, and MOHRE issues its circular each year, so check the current announcement rather than assuming last year's dates.

Who is outside the overtime and working hours rules

Article 20 of the decree sends the exclusions to the Implementing Regulation, and Article 15(4) of Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022 lists the categories exempt from the provisions relating to the maximum working hours:

• Chairpersons and members of boards of directors.
• People occupying supervisory positions, but only where the position grants them the authority of the employer.
• Crews of naval vessels and seafarers who enjoy special service conditions because of the nature of their work.
• Those engaged in work which, for technical reasons, has to be carried on continuously by a succession shift, provided average working hours do not exceed 56 hours a week.
• Preparatory or supplementary work that must necessarily be carried out outside the general time limits set for work in the establishment.

The exemption is written against the maximum working hours, so the daily and three week limits are not tested for these categories. It does not state that the Article 19 percentages fall away, and that question turns on the contract, so take advice rather than assuming either answer. The calculator prices the hours and shows a note in place of the limit checks.

Juveniles are the opposite case. Article 5(2) allows at most six actual working hours a day with breaks totalling at least an hour and no more than four consecutive hours, bars work between 7 pm and 7 am, and states that a juvenile shall not work overtime, be kept in the workplace after the prescribed hours, or work on weekends or official holidays. There is no overtime figure to calculate, so the calculator shows a note instead.

Domestic workers are covered by their own federal law rather than this one, and DIFC and ADGM contracts follow the employment regulations of those financial free zones. All three are outside this tool.

Worked example

Basic wage AED 9,000, a contract of 8 hours a day over 5 days, and a month with 10 hours of ordinary overtime, 4 hours between 10 pm and 4 am and one 8 hour rest day worked and paid rather than swapped for a day off. Press "Load the worked example" in the calculator to see the same lines live.

Change the days the overtime was spread over from 7 to 5 and the same 14 hours average 2.8 a day, which passes the two hour limit in Article 19(1), and the calculator says so above the working.

Assumptions and exclusions

• Onshore private sector contract under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021. DIFC, ADGM, domestic workers and government employees are outside the tool.
• The wage entered is the monthly basic wage. Allowances, commission and bonuses are excluded from the overtime base.
• The percentages applied are the statutory minimums of 125 per cent and 150 per cent. Article 65 lets a contract pay more, and the tool does not model contractual uplifts.
• The hourly rate uses the 30 day month convention by default, or annualised contracted hours if you switch it. Neither divisor is set in the law.
• Ramadan reduces the normal hours a day by two and leaves the monthly wage and therefore the hourly rate alone.
• Rest day and public holiday hours are priced per hour at 150 per cent of the basic hourly wage. Article 19(4) and Article 28(2) express the entitlement as the wage for that day plus not less than 50 per cent, and u.ae puts the alternative to a substitute day off as a pay equal to normal working hours remuneration plus 50 per cent of that pay. A contract may settle it as a whole day instead, and where the monthly wage already covers the day, check how the contract treats the balance.
• The three week test counts three weeks of normal working hours, the shorter Ramadan day included when Ramadan hours are on, plus the extra hours entered. It assumes those hours fall inside a single three week window, and is skipped when they are spread over more than 21 days.
• Deductions, unpaid absence, leave pay and end of service are not part of this tool.

How Axion People takes overtime into the payroll run

In Axion, the People box holds the contract, the basic wage and the hours, so overtime is priced against the same employee record that the payroll run reads, next to gratuity accrual, WPS files and GOSI, in Arabic and English. Axion calculates and reports; it does not pay wages or file anything with MOHRE.

Frequently asked questions

Related tools and guides

• UAE gratuity calculator, for end of service under Article 51 of the same decree.
• GOSI calculator and the Saudi end of service calculator, for the Saudi side of a GCC payroll.
• GCC payroll compliance in 2026: WPS, GOSI and gratuity, the guide behind these tools.
• The UAE WPS salary deadline under Ministerial Resolution 340 of 2026, for when the money has to land.
• Axion features, pricing, all tools and the Axion FAQ.

Sources

All sources checked on 5 September 2026.

1. u.ae, Working hours in the private sector: 8 hours a day or 48 a week, two hours less in Ramadan, overtime at basic pay plus 25 per cent, 50 per cent between 10 pm and 4 am with shift workers excluded, and the substitute rest day
2. MOHRE, Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 regarding the regulation of employment relationships and its amendments, with Cabinet Resolution 1 of 2022 (PDF): Articles 5, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28 and 65 of the decree, and Article 15 of the Implementing Regulation
3. MOHRE media centre, Reduction of working hours for private sector employees by two hours daily during the holy month of Ramadan (12 February 2026)
4. Bayzat, Overtime calculation in the UAE: the basic salary divided by 30 days and then by 8 hours convention for the hourly rate
5. web.hr, UAE overtime calculator: the same 30 day month and 8 hour day divisor

This calculator gives an estimate based on the federal minimum rates and a stated hourly wage convention. It is not legal advice and it is not a government or MOHRE tool. Employment contracts, company policies and sector rules can pay more than the statutory minimum, and MOHRE and the courts decide disputes. Check the final figure with your employer or a qualified adviser before relying on it.