Overtime pay

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I am working in a private company. I would like to know the correct calculation for the overtime done over the public holidays. My salary is KD 299 per month. If I work 8 hours on a public holiday what will be my overtime amount for that day? Can you please specify?

Name withheld
Answer: There is a lot of misunderstanding as far as the Kuwait Labor Law on this issue is concerned. Some experts are of the view that an employee must get one day’s additional salary for working the whole 8 hours on a public holiday while others believe that the employee who works on such a day must get two days additional salary.

Before we pass a verdict on the issue we would like to focus on the law, Article 68, which states as follows: “In the event where the worker is required to work during any of the official days , he shall be entitled to a double remuneration and an additional day off”.

Although there is nothing ambiguous about this law, the part about the “additional day off” is the one these experts are confused about and miss in their calculation of the overtime pay as the previous law (before the current one was enacted on Feb 20, 2010) just mentioned an additional day’s pay or two day’s additional pay. But now the employee must get one day’s additional pay and he must also be given an additional day off.

If this additional off day is not given, then the employee must get another day’s pay. So, this means in your case when your pay is KD 299 your daily pay works out to be 299/26 (only working days are counted) = KD 11.5 This means you should get an additional KD 11.5 plus one additional day off for working on a public holiday. But if you are not given an additional day off, you should get KD23 in addition to your pay.

This news has been read 9024 times!