What are the legal working hours for employees in Jamaica?

The Employment (Flexible Work Arrangements) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act was signed into law in November 2014.

In principle, the Flexi Work Week law is supposed to allow employees to arrange flexible working hours with their employers. Under the law, there should be no set eight hour work day. Instead, employees can arrange to work any combination of hours/day for a 40-day work week up to a maximum of 12 hours.

It is not clear the extent to which employers and employees have been utilizing aspects of the Flexi-Week law since it came into effect. In 2022, a Jamaican government senator was quoted in media saying there had not been wide participation since the act was passed in 2014. (Source: Jamaica Observer, January 18, 2022) Additionally, some employers have found various ways to get around the labour laws by offering short term work contracts to avoid paying redundancy and severance costs. (Jamaica Gleaner, March 12, 2021)

Prior to the passing of the Flexi Work Week, Jamaican workers were entitled to work 8 hour shifts (10 hours in some cases). However with this change, the ordinary work week should consist of 40 hours, and employees and their employers can agree to work up to 12 hours in a 24-hour period.

Another big change under the law is the removal of the special treatment given to Sundays. Formerly, most employers paid a double rate if the employee was required to work on a Sunday. The new law allows that the ordinary work week can now include Sundays without any overtime pay requirement. All 7 days of the week are now considered working days. With the compressed work week, workers can observe their religious day of worship without any fear of reprisal.

Overtime pay will arises after the employee has completed 40 hours of work. That means, that if you reach the 40 hour limit on Thursday, then overtime pay should kick in for any remaining hours worked.  Of course, this system has long existed in our hotels and in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors. Now, as with everything else in Jamaica, the law is playing catch up.

See also: What is the Minimum Wage in Jamaica?

Here are two examples of how the Flexi-Week law will affect the working hours of Jamaicans:

Example A: You work Sunday to Wednesday, 10 hour shifts each day.
10 hours X 4 days = 40 hour work week. No overtime pay is due.

Example B: You work Monday to Friday, with three 8-hour shifts and two 12-hour shifts.
8 hours X 3 days = 24 hours.
12 hours X 2 days = 24 hours.
24+24 = 48 hour work week.
8 hours of overtime pay is due.

For more information, contact:
Ministry of Labour
Jamaica Information Service

35 thoughts on “What are the legal working hours for employees in Jamaica?

  1. Hi…glad i see this information..i did an interview for a livein job.he said he can only give me 1 day off …isnt 3 days off im entitled to after a forthnight

  2. Am working at a cafe,I work 10-6 our work week start on a Saturday to Friday the business does not open on a Sunday,so I think it’s not consider as a day off,we do not get our lunch brake bcuz we hv nobody to cover if we go on lunch brake. From Saturday to Friday is 6 day for 8 hr so we r doing 48hrs n if we ask for a day she don’t want to give us,she’s saying when the time is busy we r not entitled to a day off only when the time is slow. So I would really want someone from the ministry to stop by n give her a brief talk for me.

    1. You should get in touch with the Labour Ministry as soon as possible. Every employee is entitled to a meal break within an 8-hour work period, and certainly are entitled to their rest days or overtime pay after 40 hours.

  3. I work as a weekly paid worker $10 000 weekly on Ash Wednesday the holiday a days pay was taken out of my pay ,Boss is telling me I am a Contract worker I did not sign any contract with her , i should be paid for the holiday True r False where is my right as a worker i come to work every day Monday to Friday

    1. Please contact the Ministry of Labour to find out if your rights are being breached by the employer.

    1. Jamaican law states that rest days are to be decided and agreed upon by the employer and employee. Please contact the Ministry of Labour for further information.

  4. This is very useful information, I will be locating to the Whitehouse area of Westmoreland shortly and will be hiring experience mature house hold staff, also if anyone is interested please leave a post.

  5. I work at a mini mart in pertersfled Westmorland I work 10 hours a day for 5 days my pay is $7000 but when taxes are drawn my pay is $6530 am working 10 hours extra which am not being paid for what legal actions can I take are how can I go about getting pay for these extra hours

  6. If I got employed with the agreement of a six day work schedule, would I be entitled to over time pay after 40 hours? Or does that exclude me?

    1. As I understand it the new law counts the 40 hours over any 7 day period and overtime begins after that. However, the Min of Labour will be the best place to get answers to your questions.

  7. Hello,
    Does OverTime only come in to affect after 40 hours? What if the person works 40 hours over 6 days instead of 5? Mon-Fri x 7 hours per day and Saturday x 5 hours

    1. I think that the Flexi-Week law states that the 40 hours can be worked over any 7 day period including Saturday and Sunday but the Labour Ministry is best able to clarify this for you.

  8. I have been working with this employer for three weeks now. I work a total of 47.5 hours each week.
    I dont get lunch time. What I get is alittle time to have lunch and I am being paid less than $6000 per week. Is this grounds to contact the ministry of labour.

    1. I really think that you should get in touch with the Ministry. First, you are being paid less than the current minimum wage AND working more than 40 hours per week. However, be mindful that you may end up losing your job especially if you are still on probation.

    2. Sounds like you maybe taken advantaged of. According to labor laws in Jamaica, a regular work week is Monday to Sunday, 40 hrs per week. Anything over 40 hrs you should get overtime. You also need to check your contract as to what the agreement and conditions were for the job. I believe you should get a proper lunch break if you work 8 hrs per day. Before speaking with your employee you should clarify also with labor board and minister of labor. Knowing your rights are important so you are not taken advantaged of.

  9. if you complete your 40 hours by Friday and you are asked to work Saturday and Sunday, should the Saturday be payed time and a half and the Sunday payed double?

    1. Please direct your query to the Ministry of Labour.

  10. I’m liveing and working in a family home and my weekly pay is $8000 what i want to know if i should be getting holiday money too and if i should be getting more money .

    1. How many hours are you working if you don’t mind me asking?

  11. Is the 40 hours include 8 to 5 Monday to Friday or 9 to 5 Monday to Friday

  12. I know an individual who works as a fiber optic technician at a telecommunication company . He works six days and gets one day off, sometimes work seven days in some instances. In some instance he gets a day off and doesn’t get one until the next twelve days after according to his timetable. I’m asking is there an issue with this. Is he entitled to get a day off from each week or as according to how management deems it.

  13. I work with an institution that services customers in Montego bay for 3.5 days out of the month from half day on a Wednesday until including Saturday. The staff works in Kingston starting on the Monday and Tuesday then to Montego bay from half day Wednesday to Saturday. The following Monday would be a day off. Does overtime come with this scenario.

    1. The Ministry of Labour is best able to answer your question. But I will say that the guidelines regarding overtime should be clear when you sign your employment contract. If not, then you should seek clarification with the Ministry.

    1. I work at a supermarket in st thomas i should reach work 8;00am every morning if you late 8 minutes you get a charge of $200 if you stay over lunch 1 minute you get a charge of $100 if a customer beg a bag $500 charge if you drop news paper on the floor$ 300 and most of us woek 37 hours. so you tell me

  14. What if you should reach work by 8:05 and you reached ten minutes ofter eight.and for each other morning your like a minute or two minutes late but each evening you leave late like fifteen minutes and up late is it fair for the employer to take money out of your pay even tho they say your entitled to five late morning and you never leave early

  15. There are Jamaican companies which do not include lunch hours in the 40-hr work week, thus employees end up doing 45 hours inclusive of lunch times. Whether or not this is legal only the Ministry of Labour can advise.

    1. This has. been. a very. interesting article indeed.

  16. The date you published for the Flexible Work Arrangement Act being signed into law is incorrect. We are not yet at November 2015

    1. Thank you for reading and taking the time to give feedback. The correction has been made.

      1. how does the lunch hour filtered in this 40 hr work week?

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