Compensation and Working Time
Overtime Compensation
In accordance with the Labour Code, the general working hours are 40 per week.
The maximum legal working hours for workers in Rwanda have been revised in 2023 to 40 hours per week, reduced from the earlier limit of 45 hours per week.
However, workers may be required to work overtime on mutual consensus between the two parties.
The employer fixes the timetable for daily work and rest but employees are entitled to flexible hours if work begins before 9:00 AM. The timetable, written in Kinyarwanda and one other official language, is displayed on the staff’s notice board after being dated and signed by the employer. The daily working hours begin when the worker enters the workplace and ends when he/she gets out. Working hours comprise of hours worked during day, night, Official holidays or weekends and are the same as ordinary hours of work and have the same remuneration cost. Break hours, ordered by the employer, are a part of normal working hours. At the enterprise level, an employer, after consultation with staff representatives, must draw a timetable complying with the 40 working hours, including hours at which the working period commences and ends.
Workers may be required to work overtime in case of urgent work, exceptional work, seasonal work, or work done to protect or increase production or where the work is of a special nature. Overtime is calculated as hours exceeding the weekly legal working hours (40 hours) or contractual working hours (if agreed as less than 40 hours per week). Overtime hours are registered in a recognised book by the employer, indicating the quantity of overtime hours worked, the day on which overtime occurred, and the start and end time for overtime hours. If a worker works beyond the stipulated working hours, i.e., 40 hours a week, the employer grants the employee a minimum weekly rest period of 24 hours, which is separate from the hours stipulated in the new ministerial order …
Instead of monetary compensation to workers engaged in overtime work, the labour law requires paid time off. An employer is required to provide the equivalent number of rest hours for the weekly overtime hours within the period of one month. If an employer does not provide the required rest period within 30 days of overtime, a worker is entitled to premium pay for overtime work according to the conditions agreed between the worker and employer in the contract.
Overtime premium pay is calculated on the basis of basic salary, excluding allowances and other benefits. The modalities for extra hours and the rate of remuneration for overtime are determined under a collective labour convention, which must be revised annually.
In case working hours are reduced due to an accident, for example, due to a failure to control energy; bad weather; disasters; lack of materials or means of transport, the lost hours are recovered without reduction in salary. Lost hours are not recovered if such an incident occurred while the employees were at work and the employer did not authorise them to leave the workplace. Lost hours are recovered by extending the normal working hours within a period of thirty (30) days from the date of the incident.
Source: §43 & 91(4) of the Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2018 (No. 66/2018); §10-18 of the Ministerial Order N° 01/MIFOTRA/23 OF 13/06/2023 on working hours and public servants governed by employment contracts
Night Work Compensation
No provision could be located in the Labour Code regarding night work. According to a Ministerial Decree, the duration of working hours at night is the same as ordinary hours of work and has the same remuneration cost.
Source: §13 of the Ministerial Order N° 01/MIFOTRA/23 OF 13/06/2023 on working hours and public servants governed by employment contracts
Compensatory Holidays / Rest Days
There is no provision for a compensatory rest day when a worker works on a weekly rest day or a public holiday. However, considering that the 2023 Ministerial Order requires compensation for overtime hours in terms of time-off, it can be assumed that workers are given a compensatory rest day if they are required to work on a weekly rest day or a public holiday.
Source: §13 & 17 of the Ministerial Order N° 01/MIFOTRA/23 OF 13/06/2023 on working hours and public servants governed by employment contracts
Weekend / Public Holiday Work Compensation
There is no provision for premium payment for a worker engaged in work on a weekly rest day or a public holiday. Employers, however, are required to pay the normal wage rate to a worker for engaging them on such days if paid time-off is not already provided to workers within the limit of 30 days.
Source: §13 & 17 of the Ministerial Order N° 01/MIFOTRA/23 OF 13/06/2023 on working hours and public servants governed by employment contracts
Regulations on Compensation
- Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2009 (Labour Code) / Itegeko rigenga umurimo mu Rwanda, 2009
- Ministerial Order No. 005/19.20 of 17/03/2020 determining the modalities for the application of the weekly working hours in the private sector
