This overtime calculator applies Article 107 of the Saudi Labor Law to your salary. Enter the basic salary, the total salary with allowances and the overtime hours, and you get the overtime pay the article sets: the actual hourly wage plus a premium of half the basic hourly wage. The tabs cover a month of overtime hours, a long workday, a Ramadan day, and a rest day or Eid, when every hour worked counts as overtime. For employers, a monthly sheet works out the overtime cost for several employees and downloads as an Excel file.
How to calculate overtime in Saudi Arabia
Overtime in the Kingdom is any hour an employee works beyond their normal daily hours, or on their weekly rest day, a public holiday or Eid. The overtime calculation formula takes three steps: divide the total monthly salary by 30 and then by the daily hours to get the hourly wage; divide the basic salary the same way and take half of it as the premium; then multiply the sum by the overtime hours. The calculator above runs these three steps and shows them with your figures under How was this calculated?
OT = H × [ Total ÷ 30 ÷ 8 + 0.5 × ( Basic ÷ 30 ÷ 8 ) ]
Working out the overtime hourly rate from the salary
The most frequent error is multiplying the total hourly wage by 1.5. Article 107 sets the premium at 50% of the basic wage, not the total, so allowances enter the hourly wage once and stay out of the premium. The larger the allowances, the wider the gap between the two methods.
The divisor is 30 days a month and the daily hours in the contract, or 8 hours where the contract says nothing else. If your working day is 7 hours, change Normal daily hours in advanced mode and the hourly wage goes up.
Overtime under the Labor Law: Article 107
Article 107 of the Saudi Labor Law requires the employer to pay for overtime hours a wage equal to the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage, and treats every hour worked on holidays and Eid as overtime. Article 98 limits actual work to eight hours a day and reduces it for Muslim employees in Ramadan.
Following the Labor Law amendments that took effect in February 2025, published summaries say the parties may agree on compensatory time off instead of overtime pay. Check the updated article and its regulations before adopting this option in company policy, and record the agreement in writing.
Overtime on Eid and public holidays
On the weekly rest day, a public holiday or Eid, every hour worked is overtime, not only the hours beyond eight. An employee who works eight hours on Eid earns eight overtime hours, on top of the pay for the day itself, which is already part of the monthly salary.
Overtime hours in Ramadan
Actual working hours for Muslim employees are reduced in Ramadan, and the practice is six hours a day. Anything above six hours in Ramadan is therefore overtime, even if the day is shorter than eight hours. The calculator keeps the hourly wage on the normal contract hours, because the salary does not change in Ramadan. Check the updated implementing regulations for the rules on Ramadan hours.
Overtime in the private sector versus government
In the private sector, working after hours is overtime under Article 107. Out-of-hours allowances for government employees fall under the civil service rules and are calculated differently; this calculator does not cover them. In the private sector, overtime must be requested or approved by the employer, so hours an employee stays on by choice without instruction do not count.
Overtime sheet in Excel for several employees
In restaurants and shops, overtime builds up from the shift roster across several people. Switch on advanced mode and add each employee with their basic, total, daily hours and overtime hours for the month, and the page shows the overtime cost to the company. Then download the sheet as an Excel file and fill in the hours yourself: the hourly wage and the overtime pay are formulas.
Common overtime mistakes
- Multiplying the total hourly wage by 1.5, which puts the premium on the allowances as well.
- Working out the hourly wage from the basic salary alone, which leaves out allowances that belong in it.
- Counting only the hours beyond eight on Eid or a holiday, when every hour that day is overtime.
- Using eight hours as the threshold in Ramadan, which loses two overtime hours a day.
- Dividing by the actual working days in the month instead of 30, so the hourly wage changes from month to month.
What to do with the result
Download the calculation with the Download PDF button: it carries the inputs, the formula with your figures and the text of Article 107, ready to attach to an overtime claim or the month's payroll. Add the overtime pay to gross salary in the same month's payroll; to see its effect on net pay, use the salary and GOSI calculator. Overtime pay is not part of the GOSI contributory wage, because it is neither basic salary nor housing allowance.
When overtime is collected from shift rosters every month
One employee's hours take a minute. Collecting them from attendance and shift rosters for dozens of staff across several branches, then putting them through payroll and the ledger, ends in copying figures from file to file unless employee records, payroll and accounts sit in one place. At Microtec we offer companies in Saudi Arabia accounting software (ERP) that covers sales, purchasing, inventory, finance and human resources. Start a trial with one branch's rosters.