Work Hours in Namibia

Work hours

According to Namibia’s Labour Act Basic Conditions of Employment of 1992, every employee needs to know the following:

• The normal hours of work should not exceed 45 hours a week but this does not apply to security guards. For security guards a maximum of 60 hours a week applies.
• However, if the working week is five days, then the working day may not exceed nine hours a day. For those working six days per week, ordinary working hours should not exceed 7.5 hours a day. This translates to 12 hours a day and 10 hours day respectively for security guards. 

• Casual employees should not work more than nine hours a day and not for more than two days a week. 

There are employees who work on shifts and according to the Labour Act, the maximum work hours for shift workers is 7.5 per shift. 

Overtime

No matter how important you may be to a company or no matter how hardworking you may be, every employee in Namibia should have time to rest.

However, if you want to work overtime then you may not work more than three hours per day or 10 hours per week.

Overtime rates are 1.5 times the hourly rate on normal working days and double the hourly rate on Sundays and public holidays. 

Public Holidays

Employees who work on public holidays must be paid as overtime. Namibia currently has eight paid public holidays. Any extra days are gazetted from time to time.