How overtime pay works in Uganda
Under the Employment Act 2006 (last amended 2023), normal working time is 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week. Any hours worked beyond that are overtime, and they must be paid at a premium. On ordinary working days, overtime is paid at a minimum of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate. Work done on a gazetted public holiday or the employee's weekly rest day attracts at least 2 times the normal hourly rate. Some collective agreements go higher (2.5× for public holidays), but you can never pay below the statutory floor.
How the hourly rate is worked out
For a monthly-paid worker, the standard method is to divide the monthly gross by 26 working days, then by the normal daily hours, to get the hourly rate. For example, a worker on UGX 600,000/month working 8-hour days has an hourly rate of about UGX 2,885 (600,000 ÷ 26 ÷ 8). Weekday overtime is then paid at 1.5× that, and holiday/rest-day work at 2×. This calculator does that maths for you and lets you adjust the multipliers if your contract or CBA sets higher rates.
Overtime limits you should know
Overtime is not unlimited. Including overtime, total working time should not exceed 10 hours per day or 56 hours per week (with a shift-averaging exception over three weeks). Overtime should also be voluntary and properly recorded — employers are legally required to keep accurate time records. Systematically scheduling excess hours as if they were normal time, or failing to pay the premium, can lead a Labour Officer to order back-pay with retrospective effect, plus possible fines.
Public holidays: three things to keep separate
Public-holiday pay trips up many employers because three different things can happen at once. First, the paid holiday itself — staff who would normally work are entitled to the day off with pay. Second, if they actually work that day, those hours are paid at the premium rate (2×). Third, if working the holiday also pushes them past their normal daily or weekly hours, overtime rules stack on top. Keeping these three separate in your payroll is how you stay compliant — and it's exactly the kind of logic Basket Payroll automates.
Frequently asked questions
Is overtime pay mandatory in Uganda? Yes. Once a worker exceeds 8 hours/day or 48 hours/week, the premium rate is a legal minimum — it cannot be waived below 1.5× (weekday) or 2× (holiday/rest day).
Does overtime apply to casual and daily-paid workers? Yes. The premium is based on the worker's normal hourly rate however their pay is structured — this calculator handles monthly, daily and hourly-paid workers.
What if someone works on a public holiday AND does overtime? Separate the holiday-premium hours from any hours beyond the daily/weekly limit, and apply the correct rate to each. Payroll software that tracks this automatically avoids the common underpayment mistake.
Can I just pay a flat allowance instead? Only if it equals or exceeds what the statutory rates would produce. If a flat allowance leaves the worker worse off than 1.5×/2× would, it's non-compliant.