Employment Act · 2026 Revised Edition · Part · Rest Days, Hours of Work, Holidays and Other Conditions of Service
65. Hours of work
In plain English
Not legal advice
Normally, an employee may not be required to work more than 8 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week. Overtime is paid at not less than one and one-half times the hourly basic rate of pay. Overtime may not exceed 72 hours a month. This section does not apply to employees in the fire and rescue service.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
Except as hereinafter provided, an employee shall not be required under his contract of service to work for —
employee
“employee” means a person who has entered into or who works under a contract of service with an employer, and includes a workman and any public officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act or any Part thereof; but does not include any seaman, domestic worker or any person employed in a managerial, executive or confidential position or any person belonging to any other class of person whom the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, may by notification published in the Gazette, declare not to be employees for the purposes of this Act;
more than 6 consecutive hours without a period of leisure;
more than 8 hours in one day or for more than 44 hours in one week:
Provided that —
an employee who is engaged in work which must be carried on continuously may be required to work for 8 consecutive hours, inclusive of a period or periods of not less than 45 minutes in the aggregate, during which he shall have the opportunity to have a meal;
where under a contract of service, the number of hours of work on one or more days of the week is
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less than 8, the limit of 8 hours may be exceeded on the remaining days of the week, but no employee shall be required to work for more than 9 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week;
where under a contract of service, the number of days on which the employee is required to work in a week is not more than 5 days, the limit of 8 hours in one day may be exceeded, but no employee shall be required to work for more than 9 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week; and
where under a contract of service, the number of hours of work in every alternate week is less than 44, the limit of 44 hours in one week may be exceeded in the other week, but no employee shall be required to work for more than 48 hours in one week or for more than 88 hours in any continuous period of 2 weeks.
An employee may be required by his employer to exceed the limit of hours set out in subsection (1) and to work on a rest day or a public holiday, in the case of —
employer
“employer” means any person who employs another person under a contract of service and includes — (a) the Government, in respect of such categories, classes or descriptions of public officers or employees of the Government as are declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act; (b) any statutory body; (c) the duly authorised agent or manager of the employer; (d) the person who owns or is carrying on or for the time being responsible for the management of the profession, business, trade or work in which the employee is engaged;
an accident, actual or threatened;
any work, the performance of which is essential to the life of the community;
any work which is essential for defence or security;
any urgent work to be done to any machinery or plant;
any interruption of work which was impossible to foresee;
work to be performed by employees in any industrial undertaking essential to the economy of Brunei Darussalam or in any of the essential services as defined in section 3(3) of the
Internal Security Act (Chapter 133) for the purposes of that section.
In the event of any dispute, the Commissioner shall have the power to decide whether or not the employer was justified in calling upon the employee to work in the circumstances specified in subsection 2(f).
Commissioner
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labour appointed under section 3(1);
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If an employee at the request of the employer works —
for more than 8 hours in one day, except as provided in paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of the proviso to subsection (1), or for more than 9 hours in one day in any case specified in those paragraphs; or
for more than 44 hours in one week, except as provided in paragraph (iv) of the proviso to subsection (1), or for more than 48 hours in any one week or more than 88 hours in any continuous period of 2 weeks in any case specified in that paragraph, he shall be paid for such extra work at the rate of not less than one and one-half of his hourly basic rate of pay, irrespective of the basis on which his rate of pay is fixed.
An employee shall not be permitted to work overtime for more than 72 hours a month.
overtime
“overtime” means the number of hours worked in any one day or in any one week in excess of the limits specified in Part 7;
For the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee, his hourly basic rate of salary shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula —
salary
“salary” means all remuneration including allowances payable to an employee in respect of work done under his contract of service, but does not include — (a) the value of any accommodation or the supply of any food, fuel, electricity, water or medical attendance, or of any amenity or service excluded by order of the Minister published in the Gazette; (b) any contribution paid by the employer on his own account to any pension fund or provident fund; (c) any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession; (d) any sum paid to the employee to reimburse him for special expenses incurred by him in the course of his employment; (e) any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement; and (f) any retrenchment benefit payable on retrenchment;
in the case of a person employed on a monthly rate of pay —
12 X the employee’s monthly basic rate of salary 52 X 44 hours; and
in the case of a person employed on piece rates —
the total weekly salary at the basic rate of salary received the total number of hours worked in the week.
The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, make regulations for the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee employed on piece rates.
Except in the circumstances described in subsection (2), an employee shall not be permitted to work for more than 12 hours in any one day.
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This section does not apply to employees engaged in the fire and rescue service or in any work which by its nature involves long hours of inactive or stand-by employment.
Terms defined in this Act
basic rate of pay
Defined · s 2“basic rate of pay” means the total amount of money (including salary adjustments and increments) to which an employee is entitled under his contract of service either for working for a period of time, that is, for one hour, one day, one week, one month or for such other period as may be stated or implied in his contract of service, or for each completed piece or task of work but does not include — (a) additional payments by way of overtime payments; (b) additional payments by way of bonus payments or annual salary supplements; (c) any sum paid to the employee to reimburse him for special expenses incurred by him in the course of his employment; (d) productivity incentive payments; and (e) any allowance however described;
Commissioner
Defined · s 2“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labour appointed under section 3(1);
contract of service
Defined · s 2“contract of service” means, subject to section 10, any agreement, whether in writing or oral and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve him as an employee, and includes a contract of apprenticeship;
employee
Defined · s 2“employee” means a person who has entered into or who works under a contract of service with an employer, and includes a workman and any public officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act or any Part thereof; but does not include any seaman, domestic worker or any person employed in a managerial, executive or confidential position or any person belonging to any other class of person whom the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, may by notification published in the Gazette, declare not to be employees for the purposes of this Act;
employer
Defined · s 2“employer” means any person who employs another person under a contract of service and includes — (a) the Government, in respect of such categories, classes or descriptions of public officers or employees of the Government as are declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act; (b) any statutory body; (c) the duly authorised agent or manager of the employer; (d) the person who owns or is carrying on or for the time being responsible for the management of the profession, business, trade or work in which the employee is engaged;
hours of work
Defined · s 2“hours of work” means the time during which an employee is at the disposal of the employer and is not free to dispose of his own time and movements, exclusive of any intervals allowed for rest and meals;
industrial undertaking
Defined · s 2“industrial undertaking” means — (a) mines, quarries and other works for the extraction of minerals from the earth; (b) industries in which articles are manufactured, assembled, altered, cleaned, repaired, ornamented, finished, adapted for sale, broken up or demolished, or in which materials are transformed, including ship-building and the generation, transformation and transmission of electricity and motive power of any kind; (c) the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, repair, alteration or demolition of any building, railway, tramway, harbour, dock, pier, canal, inland waterway, road, tunnel, bridge, viaduct, sewer, drain, well, telegraphic or telephonic installation, electrical undertaking, gaswork, waterworks or other work of construction, as well as the preparation for or the laying of the foundation of any such work or structure; (d) the transport of passengers or goods by road, rail, sea, air or inland waterway, including the handling of goods at docks, quays, wharves, warehouses and airports, but excluding transport by hand: Provided that if, having regard to the nature of the work involved in any occupation which forms part of the industrial undertaking, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan considers that such occupation should be excluded from the provisions of this Act relating to industrial undertakings, he may declare by order published in the Gazette that employment in such occupation is deemed not to be employment in an industrial undertaking for the purposes of this Act: Provided further that any undertaking of which a part only is an industrial undertaking shall not for that reason alone be deemed to be an industrial undertaking;
overtime
Defined · s 2“overtime” means the number of hours worked in any one day or in any one week in excess of the limits specified in Part 7;
salary
Defined · s 2“salary” means all remuneration including allowances payable to an employee in respect of work done under his contract of service, but does not include — (a) the value of any accommodation or the supply of any food, fuel, electricity, water or medical attendance, or of any amenity or service excluded by order of the Minister published in the Gazette; (b) any contribution paid by the employer on his own account to any pension fund or provident fund; (c) any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession; (d) any sum paid to the employee to reimburse him for special expenses incurred by him in the course of his employment; (e) any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement; and (f) any retrenchment benefit payable on retrenchment;
week
Defined · s 68“week” means a continuous period of 7 days commencing at midnight on Sunday.
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