UAE overtime calculator
Enter your monthly basic salary and the overtime hours from this period. Normal hours are paid at 125%. Hours worked between 10 pm and 4 am, and hours worked on a rest day, are paid at 150%.
Estimate only. Verify overtime rates and eligibility with your HR department or MOHRE.
UAE overtime rules the calculator uses
Overtime on a normal working day is paid at 125% of the normal hourly wage. Work between 10 pm and 4 am is paid at 150%, and work on a rest day is paid at 150% or compensated with another rest day. The hourly wage is the monthly basic salary divided by 30 days and 8 hours.
Worked example
Basic salary AED 8,000 gives an hourly rate of 8,000 ÷ 240 = AED 33.33. Ten overtime hours on normal days come to 10 × 33.33 × 1.25 = AED 416.63. Four night hours add 4 × 33.33 × 1.50 = AED 200, and an eight-hour rest day adds AED 400.
Overtime is calculated on basic salary. If your contract sets a different basic-to-allowance split, use the basic figure from your contract, not the total salary.
How the hourly wage is found
The hourly wage is the monthly basic divided by 240, which is 30 days of 8 hours. A basic salary of AED 8,000 works out to AED 33.33 an hour. Some employers divide by 26 working days instead, which produces a higher hourly rate and higher overtime. If your payslip uses a different basis, check the figure in your contract before comparing it with the result here.
Limits on overtime
The law sets a ceiling as well as a rate. Overtime should not exceed two hours on a normal day unless the work itself demands more, and total working hours including overtime should not exceed 144 hours over three weeks. If you are regularly above either limit, keep your own record of hours, because the schedule itself is the part worth raising with HR.
What does not count as overtime
Staying late to finish your own work is not automatically overtime; the 125% rate applies to hours beyond your contracted schedule that the job requires. Commuting time is not treated as working time. Whether a particular hour qualifies can depend on your contract and on how your employer records attendance, so if the amount looks wrong, ask for the hours to be itemised.
Overtime and your gratuity
Overtime payments raise your take-home pay while you are working, but they do not feed into end-of-service gratuity, which uses basic salary alone. To see what your basic salary builds up over the years, run the gratuity calculator.
Other UAE salary calculators
UAE gratuity calculator
End-of-service benefit from basic salary and dates of service.
Open calculatorUAE hourly wage calculator
A monthly salary turned into an hourly, daily and weekly figure.
Open calculatorAll three sit in the UAE salary calculators hub.
Overtime questions
What is the overtime rate in the UAE?
Ordinary overtime is paid at 125% of the hourly wage. Hours between 10 pm and 4 am are paid at 150%, and work on a rest day is paid at 150% or replaced with another rest day.
How is the hourly rate calculated for overtime?
The monthly basic salary is divided by 30 days and 8 hours a day, so a month is 240 hours. AED 8,000 a month gives AED 33.33 an hour.
Is overtime paid on basic salary or gross salary?
Basic salary. Overtime on a total package that includes allowances would overstate the amount owed.
How many overtime hours are allowed in the UAE?
No more than two hours on a normal day unless the work itself requires more, and no more than 144 working hours, overtime included, over three weeks.
Can overtime be paid as time off instead of money?
For work on a rest day, the employer may give another rest day instead of the 150% payment. Overtime on normal working days is normally paid in cash.
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