How much is overtime pay in the UAE?

What is the overtime formula?

The cash on this page is the minimum in Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. I read the English text published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, and the working-hours page on the UAE government portal. That portal page says it was updated on 12 August 2026. I read it on 16 October 2026.

Hourly basic = monthly basic wage ÷ 30 ÷ 8. Ordinary overtime = hourly basic × 1.25 × hours. Hours between 10 pm and 4 am = hourly basic × 1.50 × hours. If the person works shifts, those night hours use × 1.25 instead. A rest day named in the contract, or a public holiday, with no substitute day off = (monthly basic ÷ 30) × 1.50 × days. Allowances are typed so you can see them, and then left out.

Why is the divisor 30 and then 8?

Article 19 says the overtime wage is the wage for normal hours, calculated according to the basic wage, plus a percentage of that wage. It does not say to divide the month by 30 or the day by 8. A MOHRE guide, Additional Working Hours, Wages and Leaves, states the hourly wage as basic salary divided by 30 and then by 8. I am using that division. I could not re-download the PDF on 16 October 2026. If the file has changed, use the file. The same guide's table is described as multiplying a public holiday by 2.50. This page does not. Article 28 uses the same pay sentence as the rest-day rule: the day's wage plus at least 50 percent of basic wage for that day. I am not sure whether 2.50 means extra cash or the day's pay already inside the monthly wage plus that extra. A payroll that uses 2.50 will not match the holiday line here.

What do Articles 19 and 28 actually say?

Article 17 sets ordinary hours at 8 a day or 48 a week. Article 19 lets the employer add overtime of not more than two hours a day, except on the conditions in the implementing regulation, and total working hours must not pass 144 in any three weeks. Ordinary overtime is basic wage for those hours plus at least 25 percent. From 10 pm to 4 am the increase is at least 50 percent. Workers on shifts are excluded from that night clause. This page then applies the 25 percent rate to their night hours, because I did not find a third rate. Work on the rest day in the contract is another day off, or the wage of that day plus at least 50 percent of basic wage for that day. Article 28 says the same choice for a public holiday. Article 21 says the weekly rest day is paid, and it is the day the contract or the work rules name. It is not always Friday.

Article 15 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 cuts regular hours by two during Ramadan. It also allows more than two overtime hours when the work is needed to prevent a serious loss or a serious accident, or to limit the effects, and it keeps the 144-hour cap. This form cannot see a roster, so it will still multiply a total over two hours. Do not read that as permission.

What stays outside this total?

Allowances such as housing and transport are not basic wage. The contrast line under the result prices the ordinary hours on basic plus allowances and then tells you that figure is not the answer. A contract can pay more than these minimums. This page uses the minimum. Article 5 says a juvenile is not to work overtime. Board chairs, some supervisors, ship crews, some continuous technical work, and preparatory work are outside the maximum-hours rules in Article 15 of the regulation. Part-time hours are the hours in the contract. This divisor assumes an 8-hour day. DIFC and ADGM publish their own employment rules. If the contract names one of those, do not use this total.

The longer read of these hours is how overtime is calculated in the UAE. The gratuity calculator prices the end-of-service sum, and the UAE labour law gratuity page is the longer read of Article 51. Neither one prices these hours.

How it works

The form divides monthly basic wage by 30, then by 8, to get an hourly basic wage. Ordinary hours then multiply by 1.25. Hours from 10 pm to 4 am multiply by 1.50, unless the person works shifts, in which case those hours stay at 1.25. A rest day or a public holiday with no substitute day off is one day of basic wage, monthly basic divided by 30, times 1.50. Allowances are on the form so you can see them. They are not in the total. This is the same minimum as the guide on how overtime is calculated in the UAE, and it is not legal advice.

Take a basic wage of AED 6,000. Hourly basic is 6,000 divided by 30 divided by 8, which is AED 25. Two ordinary hours are 25 times 1.25 times 2, which is AED 62.50. One night hour, and not a shift, is 25 times 1.50, which is AED 37.50. Those three hours together are AED 100. Allowances of AED 2,000 would raise a line built on the whole package. They are not part of this AED 100.

How to calculate overtime in UAE

Divide the monthly basic wage by 30, then by 8. Multiply that hourly basic by 1.25 for an ordinary extra hour. From 10 pm to 4 am, multiply by 1.50, unless the person works shifts, in which case this page keeps 1.25. A rest day or a public holiday with no substitute day off is one day of basic wage, the monthly basic divided by 30, times 1.50. Allowances stay out.

A basic wage of AED 6,000 makes the hourly basic AED 25. Two ordinary hours are AED 62.50. One night hour, and not a shift, is AED 37.50. Those three hours are AED 100. Allowances of AED 2,000 are not in that AED 100. The rows above use the same function, and so does the guide on how overtime is calculated in the UAE. This is not legal advice.

Ramadan overtime in UAE

Article 15(2) of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 reduces regular working hours by two hours during Ramadan. Article 17 of the decree leaves the Ramadan timetable to that regulation. MOHRE has reminded employers of the shorter day in some years. I am not treating a yearly circular as a new percentage, and I have not checked a separate 2026 Ramadan circular for this sentence. Hours beyond the reduced day are overtime at the same Article 19 rates: at least 25 percent, and at least 50 percent from 10 pm to 4 am. Shift workers stay at 25 percent on this page. The hourly divisor stays 8, because I am not sure it should become 6. This is general guidance, not legal advice.