Career Advice

Sections 33 to 39 of the Labour Act cover hours of work. A maximum is set at 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, except in cases expressly noted in the Act. Provision is made for paid overtime, and the Act permits unpaid overtime in certain exceptional circumstances “including an accident threatening human lives or the very existence of the undertaking”. Under section 40, workers in continuous workdays are entitled to a rest period of at least 30 minutes counted as normal hours of work, but where the normal hours of work are split into two, the break should not be less than one hour duration and is not counted as part of the normal work hours. Workers have the right to a continuous daily rest period of at least 12 hours between 2 consecutive work days, and a weekly rest period of 48 consecutive hours in every 7 days of normal working hours. Section 44 excludes task workers and domestic workers from the 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week maximum.

Source: International Labour Organization