Overtime paycalculator

What counts as overtime

To calculate overtime, you first need the standard working hours. Article 98 sets eight hours a day or forty-eight hours a week, reduced to six hours a day or thirty-six a week for Muslim employees during Ramadan.

Every hour worked beyond that limit is an overtime hour, paid at a set rate. Work on weekly rest days and official holidays is also treated as overtime.

A fixed monthly salary does not change this. The salary pays for the standard hours, and hours beyond them are paid separately.

The rule in Article 107

Under Article 107, the employer pays the employee for overtime hours an additional amount equal to the hourly wage plus fifty percent of their basic wage. With the employee's agreement, paid compensatory leave can be given instead, at no less than one and a half hours per overtime hour.

If the whole wage is basic, an overtime hour is worth one and a half times an ordinary hour. So if the hourly wage is SAR 50, an overtime hour is worth SAR 75.

Deriving the hourly wage from a monthly salary

The usual method divides the monthly wage by thirty days to get the daily wage, then divides the daily wage by eight hours. This is the same as dividing the monthly wage by 240 hours.

It is not the only method. Some employers divide by the actual working days in the month instead of thirty, which gives a higher hourly wage. The approved work regulations or the employment contract decide the method, and the term more favourable to the employee is the one that applies.

Basic wage or gross wage

Article 107 calculates the extra 50% on the basic wage. Many contracts and internal regulations still calculate overtime on the gross wage, including fixed allowances. That is allowed, because it is more favourable to the employee.

The basis should be written into the work regulations, kept stable, and applied the same way to everyone. Treating employees differently with nothing in writing is what leads to claims.

Work on rest days and holidays

The employee is entitled to a weekly rest day on full pay, of no less than twenty-four consecutive hours. The default day is Friday, and for certain categories of employees another day can be used instead.

If the employee works on their weekly rest day or on an official holiday, they earn either extra pay or a compensatory rest day for it, as the work regulations provide. The employer should not take away the rest day and also withhold what is owed for it.

Limits on overtime and documenting it

Overtime has a limit. The Regulations cap it at seven hundred and twenty hours a year. The cap can be exceeded if the employee consents, but exceeding it without consent exposes the employer to a penalty.

Records matter even more than the cap. Overtime that is not recorded in a reliable attendance system can come back later as a claim. In the labour court, the attendance record with actual clock-in and clock-out times is what settles the dispute.