The public holiday overtime rate is 125% in Qatar, 150% in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and 200% in Kuwait and Oman. Six countries, three different answers, and every one of them is set by a different article of a different statute.
The rate alone will not tell you what you are owed, though. Three things change underneath it: whether the premium is calculated on your basic pay or your whole package, whether your daily wage divides by 30 or by 26, and whether the weekly rest day is treated as the same thing as a public holiday. Get those wrong and two countries with the same 200% rate can pay you very different amounts. That is not hypothetical: it is exactly what happens between Kuwait and Oman, and the worked comparison further down shows it in money.
Put your own hours in below, then read the country rules.
Oman Overtime Calculator
Overtime calculator
Based on Oman Royal Decree No. 53 of 2023 (Labour Law), Article 71
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The six rates side by side
| Country | Public holiday | Weekly rest day | Wage base | Daily divisor | Article |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | 150% | 150% | Basic | ÷ 30 | Art. 28 (holidays), Art. 19 (overtime) |
| Saudi Arabia | 150% | 150% | Full wage, 50% on basic | ÷ 30 | Art. 107(3) → 107(1) |
| Qatar | 125% (150% at night) | 250% + a day off | Basic | ÷ 30 | Art. 78 → Art. 74 (holiday), Art. 75 |
| Kuwait | 200% + a substitute day | 150% | Full wage | ÷ 26 | Art. 68 (holiday), Art. 67 (rest day) |
| Oman | 200% | 200% | Basic | ÷ 30 | Art. 71 (300% under Art. 72) |
| Bahrain | 150% | 250% | Full wage | ÷ 30 | Art. 64 (holiday), Art. 57(b) (rest day) |
Three rows in that table are easy to get wrong.
Qatar pays a public holiday as ordinary overtime. The widely used English translation of the law sends holiday work to Article 75, the Friday rest-day rule, which is where a 250% figure comes from; an earlier version of this guide used it. The official Arabic text sends it to Article 74, the ordinary overtime article, so the holiday rate is 125%. The Qatar section below quotes the Arabic.
Bahrain pays more for the weekly rest day than for a public holiday. Qatar now does too, but for a different reason: its holiday is ordinary overtime, while Bahrain's is a flat 150%. The Bahrain reason is a drafting difference between two articles. Article 57(b) gives a worker required to work his day off "his wage for this day and an overtime wage equivalent to 150% of such wage" — two entitlements added together, so 250%. Article 64 says a worker on an official holiday "shall be paid 150% of his wage in respect of the days worked" — one total, not an increment on top of anything. Same law, same year, two different constructions, and collapsing them into a single "Bahrain pays 150%" is the most common error on this topic.
Kuwait is the mirror image: its holiday rate sits above its rest-day rate. Article 67 gives the rest day "at least 50% of his salary in addition to the original salary", which is 150%. Article 68 gives an official holiday "a double wage", which is 200%. Kuwait is the only country here where the holiday is worth more than the rest day.
Why the highest rate is not the highest pay
Take one worker and move them between the six countries without changing anything. Monthly basic 1,000, fixed allowances 500, eight normal hours a day, and one eight-hour shift worked on a public holiday. All six figures below come from running the calculators on this site, not from hand arithmetic.
| Country | Headline rate | Pay for the 8-hour holiday shift | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuwait | 200% | 115.38 | Full wage, and ÷ 26 raises the hourly rate |
| Bahrain | 150% | 75.00 | Full wage, Art. 64's flat 150% |
| Saudi Arabia | 150% | 66.67 | Allowances in the hourly wage, 50% on basic |
| Oman | 200% | 66.67 | Top rate, but basic pay only and ÷ 30 |
| UAE | 150% | 50.00 | Basic pay only |
| Qatar | 125% | 41.67 | Basic pay only, and the lowest rate |
Kuwait and Oman share the top headline rate, and Kuwait pays 73% more. Bahrain's 150% pays more than Oman's 200%, and Oman's 200% and Saudi Arabia's 150% come out at exactly the same figure. Qatar is last on both measures.
The mechanism is not complicated once you see it. Kuwait counts allowances in the wage (Article 55) and divides the monthly wage by the number of actual working days rather than by 30, which Article 67 requires because weekly off days are excluded from the count. Both of those lift the hourly rate before any multiplier is applied. Oman starts from basic pay alone and divides by 30, so its 200% is applied to a much smaller number.
The practical version: if you are comparing offers across the Gulf, compare the hourly rate the law gives you, not the percentage.
UAE — Article 28, and the base you keep
The UAE gives public holidays their own article rather than folding them into the overtime provisions. Article 28 of Federal Decree-Law 33/2021 entitles a worker required to work on an official holiday to a compensating day off, or to the wage for that day plus an increment of at least 50% of his basic wage. The employer chooses which.
Read the two halves carefully, because the base is not the same for both. You keep the day's wage as normal, and the 50% increment is measured on the basic wage alone. That is why an eight-hour UAE holiday shift on our test package comes out at the bottom of the table: allowances never enter the calculation.
Ordinary overtime is a separate matter under Article 19 — 125% on a normal day, 150% between 10 PM and 4 AM. The full rules, including the two-hour daily cap and Ramadan's shorter working day, are in UAE overtime laws explained.
Saudi Arabia — holiday hours are deemed overtime
Saudi Arabia reaches 150% by a different route, and it is worth knowing because it explains why the rate is not higher. Article 107(3) of the Labour Law provides that hours worked on holidays and Eids count as overtime hours. It does not create a special holiday premium; it converts the holiday into overtime, and then Article 107(1) prices overtime at the hourly wage plus 50%.
The base is split in two. Article 107(1) pays the hourly wage, which the Law measures on the actual wage (basic plus allowances, Article 2), plus 50% of the basic wage. Allowances lift the hourly figure but not the premium, which is why Saudi Arabia sits below Bahrain in the comparison table (Bahrain applies its 150% to the whole wage) and level with Oman.
One further provision catches people out during Eid. Article 106(4) allows an employer to set the ordinary hour limits aside during Eid periods, up to ten actual working hours a day. The hours are still paid as overtime; what changes is the cap on how many you can be asked to work.
Saudi Arabia overtime calculator
Qatar — Article 78 points to Article 74
Qatar does not state a holiday rate directly. Article 78 of Law No. 14 of 2004 lists ten paid holiday days a year and provides, in the official Arabic, that where a worker is required to work on one «طبقت بشأنه أحكام المادة (74)»: Article 74 applies, the ordinary overtime article. Holiday hours are therefore paid at 125% of the basic hourly wage, or 150% between 9 PM and 3 AM, on top of the monthly salary that already covers the holiday. No substitute day is owed.
The widely circulated English translation points to Article 75 instead, which is where the 250% figure in an earlier version of this page came from. Article 75 governs the Friday rest day only: a substitute rest day, and pay for the day at either the ordinary rest-day wage or the basic wage plus at least 150%. The Arabic is the authoritative text, which puts Qatar at the bottom of the table on both the rate and the money.
The day, night and Friday rates, with worked examples, are in how overtime is calculated in Qatar.
Kuwait — double wage, and the ÷26 divisor
Article 68 of Law No. 6 of 2010 gives work on an official holiday "a double wage" plus a compensating day off. Article 66 caps overtime at two hours a day, 180 hours a year, three days a week and 90 days a year, and requires it to be worked under a written order with the employer keeping a special overtime record.
The divisor is what makes Kuwait pay best. Article 67's second paragraph states that a labourer's dues "including his daily wage" are calculated "by dividing his salary into the number of the actual working days without calculating therein his weekly off days, although the off days are paid days". One rest day in six leaves roughly 26 working days a month, so the same salary produces a daily wage about 15% higher than a ÷30 calculation would.
There is no night-overtime premium anywhere in Articles 64 to 68. The 150% night rate published by several well-known payroll sites has no basis in the statute.
For worked examples and the four Article 66 limits in full, see why Kuwait prices overtime on a 26-day month.
Oman — and the article nobody cites
Article 71 of Royal Decree 53/2023 treats the weekly rest day and the official holiday as one clause: 100% of the daily basic wage on top of the wage for the day, so 200%.
Article 72 is the one to know about, and it is almost never mentioned. Article 71 governs overtime worked by agreement. Article 72 governs overtime the employer may require without agreement — annual inventory or budget work, capped at 15 days a year, and genuine emergencies. Under Article 72 an official holiday pays 200% of the basic wage plus the wage for the day, which is 300% of a normal day, or two compensating days rather than one. Ordinary hours under Article 72 also pay more: +50% by day and +75% at night, against Article 71's +25% and +50%.
The calculator above prices Article 71, because that is the ordinary case. If your employer ordered the work rather than asked, check Article 72.
The Ministry of Labour clarified in February 2025 that where a weekly rest day coincides with a public holiday, compensation follows Royal Decree 88/2022 and Article 72.
Oman's overtime rules, step by step works through both articles, including the 9 PM to 5 AM night window.
Bahrain — and who gets to choose
Article 64 of Law No. 36 of 2012 covers Eid and official occasions: a worker required to work is paid 150% of his wage for the days worked, or given substitute leave. Article 57(b) covers the weekly rest day and pays the day's wage plus a 150% overtime wage, so 250%, or another day off.
In both articles the choice between the money and the day in lieu belongs to the worker, not the employer. That is unusual. The UAE gives the election to the employer under Article 28, and in Qatar a holiday brings overtime pay with no day in lieu at all.
Article 64 closes with a rule worth remembering: a public holiday that falls on a Friday is compensated with another day.
Bahrain's night window runs from 7 PM to 7 AM, the widest in the Gulf, and Bahrain's overtime rates in full shows what that does to an evening shift.
Four mistakes worth avoiding
- Treating the rest day and the public holiday as one rate. They are the same only in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Kuwait pays the holiday more; Bahrain and Qatar pay the rest day more.
- Comparing percentages across borders. The base and the divisor move the answer more than the multiplier does. Compare the hourly rate.
- Assuming allowances count. They do in Kuwait and Bahrain. In Saudi Arabia they count in the hourly wage but not in the 50% premium. They do not count in the UAE, Qatar or Oman.
- Assuming you get both the premium and the day off. For a public holiday only Kuwait grants both (Article 68). Qatar gives a substitute day for Friday work but not for a holiday; elsewhere it is an election, and in the UAE the employer makes it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the public holiday overtime rate in the GCC?
It is 125% in Qatar (Art. 78, which applies Art. 74's ordinary overtime rate; 150% between 9 PM and 3 AM), 150% in the UAE (Art. 28), Saudi Arabia (Art. 107(3)) and Bahrain (Art. 64), and 200% in Kuwait (Art. 68) and Oman (Art. 71). Oman rises to 300% under Article 72 where the employer required the work rather than agreeing it.
Which GCC country pays the most for working a public holiday?
Kuwait, in money terms. Kuwait and Oman share the top headline rate of 200%, but Kuwait calculates overtime on the full wage including allowances and divides the monthly wage by 26 actual working days rather than 30, so the hourly rate it starts from is much higher. On a package of 1,000 basic plus 500 allowances, an eight-hour holiday shift pays 115.38 in Kuwait against 66.67 in Oman, and 41.67 in Qatar, the lowest.
Is the weekly rest day paid the same as a public holiday?
In the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman, yes. In Kuwait the holiday pays more (200% against 150%). In Bahrain and Qatar the rest day pays more: 250% against 150% in Bahrain, and 250% against 125% in Qatar, where holiday work is ordinary overtime.
Do allowances count towards public holiday overtime pay?
In Kuwait and Bahrain they do, because both calculate overtime on the full wage. In Saudi Arabia they count in the hourly wage but not in the 50% premium, which Article 107 measures on basic pay. In the UAE, Qatar and Oman they do not: overtime there is priced on the basic wage alone, so housing and transport allowances make no difference to the figure.
Can I take a day off instead of holiday overtime pay?
It depends on who holds the choice. In Bahrain the worker elects, under both Article 57(b) and Article 64. In the UAE the employer elects under Article 28. In Qatar a public holiday brings overtime pay and no substitute day (Article 78 applies Article 74), while Friday work always brings a substitute day under Article 75. Kuwait gives a substitute day alongside the double wage under Article 68.
What is the overtime rate for Eid in Saudi Arabia?
The hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage, like any other overtime hour; allowances count in the hourly wage but not in the 50%. Article 107(3) does not set a special Eid rate — it deems hours worked on Eids and holidays to be overtime hours, which Article 107(1) then prices at the hourly wage plus 50% of basic. Article 106(4) separately lets an employer set aside the ordinary hour limits during Eid, up to ten actual hours a day.
How do I calculate my hourly rate for holiday overtime?
Divide your monthly wage by the number of days the law uses, then by your normal daily hours. That is 30 days in every GCC state except Kuwait, which uses 26 actual working days under Article 67. Use your basic wage in the UAE, Qatar and Oman, and your full wage in Kuwait and Bahrain, then apply the country's multiplier to each overtime hour. Saudi Arabia uses both: the full wage for the hourly rate, plus 50% of the basic hourly rate on top.
Where to go next
Each country calculator applies its own rate, base and divisor, and shows the arithmetic rather than a total: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.
If you are leaving the job rather than working through the holiday, unpaid overtime is owed as part of your final settlement but is not part of the statutory components. The settlement calculators for the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain cover gratuity, leave, notice and unpaid salary, and say where overtime has to be added separately.