Qatar Labour Law Working Hours, Holidays and Leave Information
Qatar Labour Law article consists of a wide range of legal rights guidelines and regulatory obligations for employers and employees to adhere to. This article is constructed based on the Article of Qatar Labour Law to provide a summary and focus information towards the Attendance and Leave aspects.
Working Hours (Article 73 of Qatar Labour Law)
| Types |
Maximum Hours Per Week |
Maximum Hours Per Day |
| Normal Work Days |
48 hours |
8 |
| Ramadan Month |
36 hours |
6 |
Do take note that the time spent for employees to travel for work is not to be considered nor counted into the working hours.
Break for Meal and Prayer
| Types |
Description |
| Break Time |
Between a minimum of 1 hour to a maximum of 3 hours. |
| Interval for Break |
Maximum 5 consecutive working hours with compulsory break intervals. |
Similar to the employee’s travelling time, the breaks and interval rest shall not contribute to the total working hours.
Overtime (Article 74 of Qatar Labour Law)
| Types |
Description |
| Overtime Hours |
Maximum 10 working hours per day |
| Exception |
i) Required to prevent huge loss or dangerous accidents from happening
ii) Repair or alleviate the consequence of said accident (if it has occurred)
|
Rest Day (Article 75 of Qatar Labour Law)
| Types |
Minimum Rest Day Per Week |
Friday (Rest Day) |
| Normal Worker |
1 |
Not Allowed To Work for 2 or More Fridays in Consecutive Rows |
| Shift Worker |
1 |
Exception |
Altho Work is allowed on Rest Day (if not going on for 2 weeks or more consecutively), do note that there is compensation in the form of 2 choices:
i) 1 rest day to replace on another day along with payable wage of the regular working hours wage
ii) Paid with regular hours wage plus a minimum 50% of the regular hours' wage
Public Holiday (Article 78 of Qatar Labour Law)
Employees are entitled to the following public holidays with remuneration paid in full.
| List of Holidays |
Number of Days |
| Eid EL-Fitr |
3 |
| Eid Al-Adha |
3 |
| Qatar National Day (18th December) |
1 |
| Working Days To Be Specified by Employers |
3 |
Annual Leave (Article 79 and Article 80 of Qatar Labour Law)
| Years of Service |
Entitlement |
| Less than 5 years |
3 weeks minimum |
| 5 years and more |
4 weeks minimum |
Employees are entitled to a leave for fractions of the year in proportion to the service period.
The employer has the right to determine employees' annual leave in the form of 3 choices below:
i) Set the dates for employees’ annual leave.
ii) Divide the leave into a maximum of 2 periods with the respective employee's consent.
iii) Provided with a written application to the employees to postpone no more than 50% of the annual leave to the following years of its entitlement.
Sick Leave (Article 82 of Qatar Labour Law)
Employees who completed 3 months of service with the employer are entitled to paid sick leave yearly for their service.
| Sick Leave Period |
Remuneration |
| 2 weeks |
Paid in Full Wage |
| Above 2 weeks and up till 4 weeks |
Paid in Half of Wage |
| Above 4 weeks |
Unpaid |
The employer has the choice to terminate the employment of the employee that has extended 12 weeks of sick leave if proven unable to return to work due to the reason of sickness. However, if an employee is entitled to sick leave with pay and resigns due to the reason of sickness before the end of the 6 weeks, the employer is required to pay the balance entitlement of the sick leave to the employee..
Pilgrimage Leave (Article 83 of Qatar Labour Law)
| Pilgrimage Leave Type |
Days |
| Unpaid |
20 |
Muslim employees are entitled to have Pilgrimage Leave throughout their service period. The employer may determine the number of employees who are entitled to this leave annually and give priority to the longer-service employees.
Maternity Leave (Articles 96 & 97 of Qatar Labour Law)
Maternity leave is only entitled to female employees that had completed at least a year of service to the employer.
| Description |
Days |
| The period includes before and after the delivery and provided that the period after delivery is less than 35 days. |
50 |
| If the remaining period is less than 30 days after the delivery, the employer may choose to grant complementary leave in the form of annual leave or otherwise given leave without pay. |
Complementary Annual or Unpaid |
During the end of Maternity, any medical condition that prevents the employee from resuming their work will be considered as leave without pay.
This absence shall not exceed 60 consecutive days and must be provided with a medical certificate produced by a licensed physician.
|
Unpaid |
Nursing Break for Mothers Art
| Description |
Hours |
i) The nursing time shall be made by the female employees themselves.
ii) Calculated as part of working hours, not allowed to result in deduction of wage.
iii) This break applies throughout a year of the delivery
|
1 hour minimum per day |
