Overtime/Paid Public Holidays

For Employers: Overtime and Paid Public Holidays, Pay and Work and Labour Laws and Overtime and Wages and more on AfricaPay Ghana

If you as an employer engage a worker in an undertaking after the hours of work fixed by the rules of that undertaking, the additional hours are regarded as overtime work. A worker may not be required to do overtime work unless that undertaking has fixed rates of pay for overtime work. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Hours of Work

What are the hours of work for an employee?

The hours of work of a worker shall be a maximum of eight hours a day or forty hours a week.

Is it possible as an employer to fix different hours of work for my employees?

Yes. The rules of any undertaking or its branch may prescribe hours of work different from eight hours a day on one or more days in the week, subject to the following:

Where shorter hours of work are fixed, the hours of work on the other days of the week may be proportionately longer than eight hours but shall not exceed nine hours a day or total of forty hours a week.

Where longer hours of work are fixed the average number of hours of work reckoned over a period of four weeks or less shall not exceed eight hours a day or forty hours a week.

In the case of work which is of a seasonal nature, where longer hours of work are fixed, the average number of hours of work over a period of one year shall not exceed eight hours a day except that the hours of work which may be fixed under this paragraph shall not exceed ten hours.

Can I, as an employer, force my employees to do overtime?

No. A worker cannot be forced to do overtime work. However, in certain circumstances, if the viability of the undertaking or enterprise requires overtime then a worker may be compelled to do overtime. Also a worker may be required to engage in overtime work in order to prevent or avoid threat to life and property.  

Is there a situation where an employer does not have to pay a worker for overtime?

A worker may be required to work beyond the fixed hours of work without additional pay in certain exceptional circumstances, including an accident threatening human lives or the very existence of the undertaking.

Must an employer pay an employee remuneration during public holidays?

Yes. Every worker is entitled to be paid his or her remuneration for public holidays. Additionally, every employer shall pay each temporary or casual worker in respect of every public holiday the full remuneration which would have been payable to them for a full day’s work if that day had not been a public holiday.

When must I, as an employer, make the payment?

Payments in respect of the public holiday shall be made after the public holiday in the same manner as workers are normally paid. 

What happens if an employer fails make payment to the worker?

When employer fails to comply, the temporary worker or the casual worker aggrieved by the non-compliance of the employer may present a written complaint to the Labour Commission for determination and the parties shall abide by the decisions of the Labour Commission. The Labour Commission may order the employer to pay a sum which appears to the Labour Commission to be due to the temporary worker or the casual worker, and may specify the time within which the payment shall be made.

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