Overtime Pay in Kenya: Rates, Working Hours and How to Calculate It

Overtime pay in Kenya is not simply “extra money for staying late.” It is a payroll entitlement determined by the employee’s working hours, the applicable wage order, the employee’s basic pay, the day worked, and any more favourable employment contract or collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

For many Kenyan workplaces—from retail shops in Nairobi and hospitality businesses in Mombasa to manufacturing sites in Thika, farms, security firms and offices across the country—the key question is: when do extra hours become overtime, and what rate applies?

The short answer is that the Regulation of Wages (General) Order generally treats work above the normal weekly hours as overtime payable at 1.5 times the normal hourly rate. Work performed on an employee’s normal rest day or a public holiday attracts twice the normal hourly rate. The Employment Act, 2007 provides the broader legal framework: employers regulate working hours, employees receive a rest day, and written contracts state the hours of work and remuneration method.

This guide explains the law, calculations, records and practical payroll treatment in Kenya. It is written for employees, HR teams, payroll officers, small-business owners and professionals who need to understand how Kenyan overtime rules operate.

What Kenyan law says about overtime

Kenya does not place all overtime rules in one section of the Employment Act. Instead, the legal position comes from reading the Employment Act, 2007 together with wage orders made under the Labour Institutions Act.

Employment Act: hours and rest days

Section 27(1) of the Employment Act, Cap. 226, provides that an employer regulates each employee’s working hours in accordance with the Act and other written law. Section 27(2) then gives every employee at least one rest day in every period of seven days.

The phrase “other written law” matters. It brings applicable wage orders into the working-hours framework. For many employees, the detailed ordinary-hours and overtime rules are found in the Regulation of Wages (General) Order.

Section 10(2)(g) of the Employment Act also requires a written employment contract to state the employee’s hours of work. Section 10(2)(h) requires the contract to state remuneration, the rate or scale of remuneration, and the method used to calculate it. This information makes it easier to identify ordinary hours, overtime hours and the applicable hourly rate.

Under Section 3(6), statutory employment terms are minimum conditions. An agreement that removes, reduces or waives a minimum entitlement is void to that extent. A contract or CBA can therefore provide a more favourable overtime arrangement, such as a higher multiplier or a shorter ordinary working week, but it cannot undercut the applicable legal minimum.

Regulation of Wages (General) Order: ordinary hours

Regulation 5 of the Regulation of Wages (General) Order provides the general hours benchmark:

The 52-hour weekly limit is commonly understood as a six-day workweek. That works out to an average of about 8 hours and 40 minutes per day, although actual daily schedules can differ where the weekly limit is observed and the contract, wage order or CBA provides otherwise. The night-work provision is a separate rule under Regulation 5(2), not an automatic entitlement to schedule any employee for 60 hours.

For example, if a shop attendant works Monday to Saturday, their normal weekly schedule can total up to 52 hours under the General Order. Hours beyond the applicable ordinary weekly threshold are ordinarily treated as overtime.

The statutory overtime rates

Regulation 6(1) of the Regulation of Wages (General) Order sets two central rates:

In plain terms:

• Time-and-a-half applies to overtime above the normal working hours in the week.
• Double time applies where work is done on the employee’s normal weekly rest day or on a gazetted public holiday.
• The applicable CBA, contract or sector-specific wage order can provide a rate that is more favourable than these minimums.

Kenya’s Employment and Labour Relations Court has repeatedly referred to these Regulation 6 rates when considering overtime disputes. In James Kyama v Muthaiga Golf Club, for example, the court restated the 1.5-times rate for excess weekly hours and double-time rate for work on a rest day or public holiday.

How to calculate overtime pay in Kenya

The calculation has three components:

1. Identify the employee’s basic hourly rate.
2. Identify qualifying overtime hours.
3. Apply the legally relevant multiplier.

For an employee paid by the hour, the contractual normal hourly wage is the starting point.

For a monthly-paid employee who is not paid by the hour, Regulation 6(2) provides an important statutory floor. The basic hourly rate is deemed to be not less than one two-hundred-and-twenty-fifth (1/225) of the employee’s basic minimum monthly wage.

The wording “not less than” is important. It establishes a floor. A contract, CBA or workplace policy may produce a more favourable hourly basis.

Core overtime formulas

For a monthly-paid employee, the commonly used statutory calculation framework is:

[ \text{Basic hourly rate} = \frac{\text{Basic monthly wage}}{225} ]

[ \text{Ordinary-day overtime pay} = \text{Overtime hours} \times \text{Hourly rate} \times 1.5 ]

[ \text{Rest-day or public-holiday overtime pay} = \text{Hours worked} \times \text{Hourly rate} \times 2 ]

Use basic wage, not take-home pay. The Employment Act defines “basic salary” as gross salary excluding allowances and other benefits. The exact wage components can also depend on the contract, CBA and applicable wage order, so payroll records need to clearly separate basic pay from allowances.

Example 1: Weekday overtime for a monthly-paid employee

Assume an employee has:

First, determine the basic hourly rate:

[ \text{KSh 45,000} \div 225 = \text{KSh 200 per hour} ]

Then calculate overtime:

[ 10 \times \text{KSh 200} \times 1.5 = \text{KSh 3,000} ]

The overtime payment for those 10 qualifying ordinary-day overtime hours is KSh 3,000, before statutory payroll deductions where applicable.

Example 2: Work on a normal rest day

Using the same basic monthly wage of KSh 45,000, assume the employee works 8 hours on their normal weekly rest day.

[ \text{Hourly rate} = \text{KSh 45,000} \div 225 = \text{KSh 200} ]

[ 8 \times \text{KSh 200} \times 2 = \text{KSh 3,200} ]

The payment for the 8 rest-day hours is KSh 3,200 at double time.

A rest day is not automatically Sunday for every employee. It is the employee’s normal weekly day of rest under the work arrangement. For a hotel employee, security guard, hospital worker or retail worker rostered on Sundays, the designated rest day may fall on another day of the week.

Example 3: Public-holiday work

Assume a worker earns a basic monthly wage of KSh 27,000 and works 6 hours on a Kenyan public holiday.

[ \text{Hourly rate} = \text{KSh 27,000} \div 225 = \text{KSh 120} ]

[ 6 \times \text{KSh 120} \times 2 = \text{KSh 1,440} ]

The public-holiday work payment under the Regulation 6 double-time formula is KSh 1,440.

Payroll teams need to avoid counting the same hours twice without checking the applicable contract or CBA. For instance, where a public holiday also falls on a rest day, the General Order establishes double time for public-holiday or rest-day work; a more beneficial CBA may expressly prescribe a different outcome.

Working-hour caps and two-week limits

Overtime pay is not only a rate issue. Kenyan law also regulates the total hours that can be worked.

Regulation 6(3) of the Regulation of Wages (General) Order provides that, over any two consecutive weeks, overtime plus normal working hours cannot exceed:

For an ordinary adult employee, the 116-hour ceiling means that a payroll officer cannot simply keep approving extra shifts without monitoring the two-week total. For night workers, the equivalent cap is 144 hours.

Example: Checking the two-week ceiling

Consider an employee who worked:

If this employee is not a night worker, the total exceeds the 116-hour Regulation 6(3) limit by 2 hours. Paying overtime does not erase the issue of exceeding the total-hours cap.

This is why a reliable overtime process requires both a pay calculation and a roster-hours check.

Minimum wages and overtime calculations

The employee’s occupation and place of work can affect the applicable minimum wage. The Regulation of Wages (General) (Amendment) Order, 2024—Legal Notice No. 164—came into operation on 1 November 2024 and updated the wage schedule. The Order separates Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret cities; former municipalities and specified towns; and other areas.

The following examples illustrate the published minimum monthly wages exclusive of housing allowance:

These figures illustrate why overtime cannot be calculated using a single national payroll number. The correct wage category, location, employment terms and any applicable sector order all matter.

Example: Minimum-wage overtime illustration

A general labourer in Nairobi earns the scheduled minimum basic monthly wage of KSh 16,113.75.

[ \text{Hourly base} = \text{KSh 16,113.75} \div 225 = \text{KSh 71.62} ]

For 5 qualifying weekday overtime hours:

[ 5 \times \text{KSh 71.62} \times 1.5 = \text{KSh 537.15} ]

The overtime amount is approximately KSh 537.15 for those five hours, before applicable deductions. Payroll systems may apply rounding rules consistently to cents.

Records employers and employees need

Overtime claims often turn on evidence: attendance records, rosters, payslips, clock-in data, emails authorising extra work, or supervisor instructions.

Section 74 of the Employment Act requires employers to keep written records of employees and prescribed employment particulars. The Act also places importance on written employment particulars, including hours of work and remuneration method. Where an employer fails to produce required written particulars in legal proceedings, Section 10(7) places the burden of proving or disproving an alleged contractual term on the employer.

Useful overtime records include:

• The signed employment contract and any variation letter.
• The relevant CBA or workplace overtime policy.
• Daily attendance register, biometric log or shift roster.
• Start and end times for each shift.
• Public-holiday and rest-day duty schedules.
• Overtime approval forms, emails or supervisor messages.
• Itemised payslips showing basic pay, overtime hours, rate and overtime amount.
• Evidence of payment through bank transfer, mobile-money payroll channel or other authorised method.

Section 20 of the Employment Act requires an employer to provide an itemised pay statement at or before payment of wages. A clear payslip helps an employee reconcile overtime hours against the amount paid and helps an employer demonstrate payroll compliance.

Common overtime payroll errors

Treating every late departure as overtime

A late departure is not automatically payable overtime without reference to the employee’s ordinary schedule, weekly total, authorisation process and applicable contract. For example, an employee who works fewer hours earlier in the week may not have exceeded the normal weekly threshold.

Using gross pay without checking the legal base

Overtime calculations are commonly built from the basic hourly wage. Allowances, commissions, reimbursements and benefits need separate treatment under the contract and wage framework. Using net pay or an arbitrary daily rate can distort the result.

Ignoring the rest-day distinction

Hours worked on a normal rest day attract the double-time rule under Regulation 6(1)(b). A roster that records only “overtime hours” without identifying the day worked can lead to underpayment or incorrect payroll coding.

Assuming Sunday is automatically double time

Sunday work becomes double time under Regulation 6 because it is the employee’s normal rest day, not merely because it is Sunday. A business that operates seven days a week may give employees different rest days.

Overlooking a CBA or sector order

The Regulation of Wages (General) Order is not the only labour instrument that can matter. A registered CBA or sector-specific wage order may prescribe different, more favourable ordinary hours, wage rates or overtime arrangements. The correct first step is identifying the employee’s coverage.

Paying overtime but exceeding the hours cap

Paying 1.5 times or double time does not replace the Regulation 6(3) two-week limit. Both compensation and working-time controls need tracking.

Using a ToolBase calculator

For a transparent calculation, use the Kenya Overtime Pay Calculator on ToolBase. Enter the employee’s basic monthly pay, qualifying overtime hours and whether the hours were worked on an ordinary day, rest day or public holiday. The calculator can apply the 1/225 hourly baseline and the statutory multiplier.

Where overtime appears alongside PAYE, housing levy, NSSF and other statutory payroll items, the Kenya Payroll Calculator can help separate gross earnings, overtime additions and estimated deductions. A calculator supports arithmetic; the employment contract, wage order and work records determine which hours qualify.

Conclusion

Kenyan overtime pay is governed by a connected framework: Section 27 of the Employment Act protects the weekly rest-day principle, while Regulations 5 and 6 of the Regulation of Wages (General) Order set ordinary-hours benchmarks, overtime multipliers and two-week working-hour caps. In most cases, qualifying excess hours attract 1.5 times the normal hourly rate, while normal-rest-day and public-holiday work attract double time.

Accurate overtime payroll starts with the correct basic wage, applicable wage order or CBA, verified attendance record, normal rest day and actual weekly hours. Keeping these records clear protects both employees and employers from avoidable payroll disputes.

Last Updated: September 26, 2026

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.