How to Calculate Overtime in Egypt (law No. 14), Rates, Formula & Payroll Checklist

Understanding how to calculate overtime in Egypt is now a front-line compliance priority for every employer operating in the country. Labour Law No. 14 of 2025, fully effective across 2025 and 2026, codified the overtime premium structure that payroll teams must follow: a minimum of 135 % of the regular hourly wage for daytime overtime, 170 % for night overtime, and enhanced premiums for work performed on a weekly rest day or public holiday. The penalties for miscalculation extend well beyond back-pay; inspectors are issuing fines for missing records and unsigned overtime authorisations.

This guide walks HR managers, in-house counsel and external payroll providers through the exact formulas, three worked numeric examples, required documentation fields and a ready-to-use employer checklist, everything needed to run a compliant Egypt payroll in 2026.

Quick Statutory Summary, Egypt Labour Law 2026 (Law No. 14) and What Changed

Law No. 14 of 2025 replaced the long-standing Labour Law No. 12 of 2003 as the principal statute governing overtime and working hours in Egypt. Published in the Official Gazette and translated by leading firms including Andersen in Egypt and Sadany & Partners, the new law applies to most private-sector employees across all industries unless a specific exclusion is stated. Overtime provisions appear principally in the articles dealing with working hours, rest periods and wage protection. Employers who have not yet updated their payroll rules, employment contracts and HRIS configurations should treat 2026 as the final compliance window.

Key Changes Employers Must Know

• Codified premium rates. Daytime overtime must be paid at no less than 135 % of the normal hourly wage; night overtime at no less than 170 %.
• Rest-day and public-holiday premiums. Work performed on a weekly rest day or an official public holiday attracts an additional premium, commonly interpreted as double the ordinary daily wage plus a compensatory day off.
• Cap on daily hours. Total actual working hours (regular plus overtime) may not exceed ten hours in any single day.
• Strengthened recordkeeping. Employers must maintain time-and-attendance records and overtime authorisations that are available for inspection.
• Increased fines. Penalty provisions under the new law raise the fine bands for wage-related violations, including underpaid or unrecorded overtime.

For a broader overview of every employer obligation under the new statute, see the Egypt Labour Law 2026, employer guide.

Standard Working Hours in Egypt (Law No. 14), Baseline Definitions

Before any overtime formula can be applied, the payroll team must establish the baseline. Egypt working hours time under Law No. 14 follows a structure that most employers in the region will find familiar, but specific definitions matter when classifying hours as “regular” or “overtime.”

Standard Daily and Weekly Hours

• Normal working day: 8 hours of actual work, or 48 hours per week. The daily limit may not exceed 10 hours inclusive of overtime.
• Rest breaks: Breaks for meals or rest are not counted within actual working hours, provided they are clearly designated and the employee is free from duties.
• Weekly working days: Most Egyptian employers operate a six-day week (Sunday to Thursday, plus Saturday or an alternative arrangement). Friday is the customary weekly rest day, though the employer may designate a different day provided each employee receives at least one full 24-hour rest day every seven days.

Definitions: Day Work, Night Work, Rest Day and Public Holiday

• Day work. Hours falling within the standard daytime band, generally from approximately 7:00 a.m. to the start of the night-work threshold.
• Night work. The law designates night work as hours between defined evening and morning thresholds. The statutory night-work window is generally regarded as the period between approximately 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., though employers should verify the precise wording in their translated copy of Law No. 14 and any implementing regulations.
• Weekly rest day. A minimum of 24 consecutive hours of rest after no more than six consecutive working days. Typically Friday, but contractually reassignable.
• Public holidays. Official holidays are gazetted annually. Work on these days follows the rest-day premium structure and may attract the same enhanced rate.

Industry observers expect the Ministry of Manpower to continue issuing clarifying circulars on night-work boundaries for specific sectors, so payroll teams should monitor regulatory updates throughout 2026.

Headline Overtime Rates and When They Apply

The overtime pay Egypt framework under Law No. 14 sets minimum statutory premiums. Employers may offer higher rates through collective agreements or individual contracts, but may never go below the statutory floor.

Conservative employer approach: Where the statute refers to an “additional premium” rather than specifying an exact multiplier for rest-day work, the widely adopted interpretation, supported by firm analyses from Andersen in Egypt and Sadany & Partners, is to pay double the ordinary daily wage and grant a compensatory day off. Employers should document the method they adopt and apply it consistently.

How to Calculate Overtime in Egypt, Step-by-Step Payroll Formulas

This section provides the core payroll formulas for both hourly and salaried employees, followed by three fully worked numeric examples. If you prefer to use an Egypt overtime calculator in spreadsheet form, the downloadable Excel template at the end of this guide uses the same formulas.

Formula, Hourly Worker

For employees paid an agreed hourly rate, the calculation is straightforward:

1. Identify the regular hourly rate (HR). This is the contractually agreed rate per hour of normal work.
2. Count overtime hours worked. Only hours beyond the 8-hour daily threshold (or 48-hour weekly threshold) qualify.
3. Apply the statutory multiplier.

Overtime Pay = HR × Multiplier × Overtime Hours

Example 1, Hourly worker, daytime overtime

• Regular hourly rate (HR): 72 EGP
• Overtime hours worked (daytime): 2 hours
• Multiplier: 1.35

Overtime pay = 72 × 1.35 × 2 = 194.40 EGP

Payroll journal entry:

Formula, Salaried Worker (Monthly Salary)

For salaried employees, an intermediate step converts the monthly base into an hourly equivalent. Two conventions are common in Egyptian payroll practice:

• Method A (recommended): Monthly standard hours = 48 hours/week × 52 weeks/year ÷ 12 months = 208 hours per month.
• Method B: Monthly standard hours = 48 hours/week × 4.33 weeks = approximately 208 hours (same result, slightly different logic).

Whichever convention the employer selects, it should be documented in the payroll policy and applied uniformly.

1. Calculate hourly equivalent: Hourly Rate = Monthly Salary ÷ 208
2. Identify overtime hours and applicable multiplier (day, night, rest-day).
3. Apply the formula: Overtime Pay = Hourly Rate × Multiplier × Overtime Hours

Example 2, Salaried worker, night overtime

• Monthly base salary: 7,500 EGP
• Monthly standard hours: 208
• Hourly equivalent: 7,500 ÷ 208 = 36.06 EGP (rounded to two decimal places)
• Overtime hours worked (night): 3 hours
• Multiplier: 1.70

Overtime pay = 36.06 × 1.70 × 3 = 183.91 EGP

Payroll journal entry:

Example, Rest-Day / Public-Holiday Calculation

When an employee is called in to work on a weekly rest day or public holiday in Egypt, the overtime calculation typically uses the double-pay multiplier (200 %) plus a compensatory rest day. The calculation below covers both a full-day and a partial-day scenario.

Example 3a, Full rest day worked (8 hours)

• Monthly base salary: 7,500 EGP
• Hourly equivalent: 36.06 EGP (per Example 2)
• Hours worked on rest day: 8
• Multiplier: 2.00

Rest-day pay = 36.06 × 2.00 × 8 = 576.96 EGP

The employee is also entitled to a compensatory day off within the following week.

Example 3b, Partial rest day worked (4 hours)

• Hours worked on rest day: 4
• Multiplier: 2.00

Rest-day pay = 36.06 × 2.00 × 4 = 288.48 EGP

Payroll journal entry (Example 3a):

Payroll tip: Always create a separate pay code for rest-day and public-holiday work. This simplifies audit trails and ensures the compensatory-leave obligation is tracked alongside the monetary payment.

Overtime Rules and Limits Under Law No. 14, Exceptions and Special Cases

Not every working arrangement falls neatly into the standard formula. Law No. 14 includes several important carve-outs and limits that payroll teams should build into their overtime policy.

• Daily maximum. Total actual working hours, regular plus overtime, must not exceed 10 hours in a single day. Any hours worked beyond this cap expose the employer to penalty, even if the overtime was paid correctly.
• Exempt categories. Certain senior managerial and supervisory roles may be excluded from overtime provisions where the nature of their work makes fixed-hour measurement impractical. Employers must document the exemption classification for each role and ensure it aligns with the statutory definition.
• Compensatory leave. Where the statute permits, an employer may grant compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay for rest-day or public-holiday work. However, the compensatory day must be granted within a defined timeframe, and the employee’s written consent is recommended. Compensatory leave does not replace the monetary premium for standard daytime or night overtime, the cash payment remains mandatory.
• Shift patterns and on-call time. For rotating-shift operations, employers must ensure that the weekly 48-hour ceiling and the 24-hour consecutive rest requirement are both met across the cycle. On-call time where the employee is required to remain at the workplace generally counts as working time.
• Pregnant and juvenile employees. Special restrictions on overtime apply; these categories may not be assigned overtime in certain circumstances under the law’s protective provisions.

Recordkeeping, Payroll Controls and Documentation Employers Must Keep

Labour inspectors in Egypt increasingly focus on documentation failures as a standalone violation, even where the correct amounts were paid. Every employer should maintain a structured overtime register that captures, at minimum, the fields listed below.

Retention period: While Law No. 14 does not prescribe a single universal retention period for all payroll records, the conservative practice, supported by limitation periods for wage claims, is to retain overtime documentation for a minimum of five years. Employers operating under sector-specific regulations (e.g., oil and gas, construction) may face longer retention requirements. Filing a labour complaint in any jurisdiction is significantly easier when digital records exist; Egypt is no exception.

Enforcement, Penalties and Common Audit Findings

Under Law No. 14, the Ministry of Manpower’s labour inspectorate has broadened its powers and raised fine thresholds for wage-related violations. The most frequently cited findings during overtime audits include:

• No written overtime authorisation. Inspectors treat unsigned or missing authorisation records as a standalone infraction.
• Incorrect multiplier applied. Paying daytime rates for hours that fall within the night-work window is one of the most common payroll errors.
• Exceeding the daily 10-hour cap. Even where employees volunteer, the employer bears liability for scheduling violations.
• Failure to grant compensatory rest. Requiring rest-day work without providing a compensatory day off within the statutory timeframe triggers both a fine and a back-pay exposure.
• Inadequate timekeeping systems. Manual paper logs with no supervisory countersignature are increasingly rejected as insufficient evidence of compliance.

Fines under the new law are assessed per employee per violation, meaning a systemic payroll error across a workforce can scale rapidly. Early indications suggest that inspectors are prioritising industries with high overtime volumes, such as manufacturing, hospitality and construction.

Employer Checklist, Practical Next Steps for 2026

Use the following checklist to confirm your organisation is fully aligned with the overtime and working hours requirements of Egypt labour law 2026.

1. Obtain and review the official text of Law No. 14 in both Arabic and a certified translation.
2. Map every job role to “overtime-eligible” or “exempt” and document the classification rationale.
3. Update the HRIS/payroll system with the correct multipliers: 1.35 (day), 1.70 (night), 2.00 (rest-day/holiday).
4. Confirm the monthly standard hours convention (208 hours) in the payroll policy and apply it consistently.
5. Rewrite employment contracts or issue addenda to reflect the new statutory overtime rates.
6. Implement a digital overtime-authorisation workflow (request → manager approval → payroll processing).
7. Create separate pay codes for daytime OT, night OT, rest-day work and public-holiday work.
8. Run a retrospective payroll audit for any months processed under old rates or old-law assumptions.
9. Train payroll staff and line managers on the 10-hour daily cap and compensatory-leave obligations.
10. Draft and circulate a revised overtime policy to all employees and obtain signed acknowledgements.
11. Schedule quarterly internal audits of overtime records (sample at least 10 % of entries per quarter).
12. Engage an Egypt-qualified labour lawyer for an independent payroll compliance review.

Downloadable Tools and Templates

To operationalise the formulas and recordkeeping requirements described above, the following resources are recommended:

• Excel overtime calculator, monthly and hourly templates pre-loaded with the 1.35 / 1.70 / 2.00 multipliers and a 208-hour monthly baseline. (Template available for download on the Egypt overtime payroll checklist page.)
• Sample payroll journal, debit/credit entries for each overtime scenario, formatted for common accounting software.
• Employee overtime consent form, bilingual (Arabic/English) template for rest-day and public-holiday overtime authorisation.

Conclusion

Knowing how to calculate overtime in Egypt under Law No. 14 is not optional, it is a payroll compliance requirement with direct financial and legal consequences. The formulas themselves are not complex: identify the hourly rate, apply the correct multiplier (1.35 for day, 1.70 for night, 2.00 for rest-day and public-holiday work) and document everything. The real risk lies in inconsistent application, missing records and failure to update legacy payroll systems. Employers who act now, auditing their payroll configurations, training their teams and building digital overtime workflows, will avoid the back-pay exposures and per-employee fines that are already emerging across Egypt’s labour inspectorate in 2026.

This article provides general guidance on overtime and working hours in Egypt. It does not constitute legal advice. Employers should consult an Egypt-qualified labour lawyer for a payroll compliance audit tailored to their specific workforce and industry.

Sources

1. Translation of Labour Law No. 14, Andersen in Egypt
2. Egyptian Labour Law No. 14 of 2025, Sadany & Partners
3. Egypt Labour Law 2026: Employer Guide, Global Law Experts
4. Egypt Labor Law 14, 2026 Employer Guide, MaheRFC
5. Egypt Overtime Calculator, Jibble
6. Overtime Pay in Egypt, Wuzzuf
7. Working Hours, Egypt, Playroll
8. Employment and Labour Laws and Regulations, Egypt, ICLG
9. Report on Labor Law and Working Hour Regulations in Egypt, Egypt Today