BlackRevo blog · Employee rights

Overtime pay in Malaysia: the 45-hour week, the 1.5×, 2× and 3× rates, and how to check your OT

Yap Pat Yih, Co-founder and General Manager · 2026-10-01 · 8 min read

How overtime is calculated in Malaysia: the 45-hour week, your hourly rate from a monthly salary, 1.5× on a working day, 2× on a rest day, 3× on a public holiday, and who gets them.

Overtime in Malaysia starts from your hourly rate: monthly wages divided by 26, then by your normal hours a day, usually 8. Beyond normal hours you earn at least 1.5 times that rate on a working day, 2 times on a rest day and 3 times on a public holiday. The Employment Act guarantees these rates to employees earning RM4,000 a month or less, and to manual workers and a few other groups whatever they earn.

TL;DR

What counts as normal hours

The Act sets the frame before it sets the pay. Your contract cannot require you to work more than 8 hours in a day or 45 hours in a week, more than 5 hours in a row without a break of at least 30 minutes, or across a spread of more than 10 hours in a day (section 60A(1)). The weekly limit was 48 hours until 1 January 2023, when the amendment brought it down to 45, as the Labour Department explains.

Your "normal hours of work" are the usual daily hours agreed in your contract, inside those limits, and overtime is the hours beyond them (section 60A(3)). A 9-to-6 day with an hour's lunch is 8 working hours, so overtime starts at 6 pm, not when you reach 45 hours in the week. You are also entitled to one rest day a week, on a day your employer appoints (section 59).

Your hourly rate, step by step

For a monthly-paid employee on RM3,000 with an 8-hour normal day:

  1. Ordinary rate of pay, one day: monthly wages ÷ 26 = RM115.38 (section 60I(1A)).
  2. Hourly rate of pay: ordinary rate ÷ normal hours a day = RM14.42 (section 60I(1)(b)).
  3. Normal day overtime, per hour: hourly rate × 1.5 = RM21.63.
  4. Rest day, per hour beyond normal hours: hourly rate × 2 = RM28.85.
  5. Public holiday, per hour beyond normal hours: hourly rate × 3 = RM43.27.

Each figure is worked from the unrounded rate and rounded to the sen. The 26 is the Act's fixed divisor whatever the month's length; a day of unpaid leave uses calendar days instead, as our emergency and unpaid leave guide explains. "Wages" means basic pay plus other cash paid for your work, such as a fixed allowance, but not a travelling allowance or an annual bonus (section 2). What else comes off a pay slip is in our fresh graduate salary guide.

Rate card: hourly rate RM14.42, normal day overtime 1.5 times RM21.63, rest day 2 times RM28.85, public holiday 3 times RM43.27, cap 104 hours a month
Overtime rates under the Employment Act, on a RM3,000 salary.

Overtime on a normal working day

For each hour beyond your normal hours on a working day, your employer pays not less than 1.5 times your hourly rate (section 60A(3)(a)). Two hours after a 9-to-6 day on RM3,000 is RM43.27. The Act sets no rounding rule for part hours; in practice they are paid in proportion, so check how your employer counts them.

One distinction matters as much as the rate: whether the time was work. The Act counts as hours of work the time you are at your employer's disposal and not free to use your own time (section 60A(9)). Work you are asked to do, or that your employer knows about and accepts, counts; time that is genuinely your own does not. If you are asked to stay, get it in a message.

Work on a rest day

On a rest day the whole day is outside your normal hours. For a monthly-paid employee the Act sets three bands (section 60(3)(b) and (c)):

So a full rest-day shift of 8 hours on RM3,000 earns one day's wages, RM115.38, on top of your salary, and a ninth hour adds RM28.85. Some employers offer a day off instead, but the Act has no provision for that: it says these payments "shall be paid". Unless your work runs in continuous shifts or there is an emergency of the kind the Act lists, you cannot be compelled to work on your rest day at all (sections 60(1) and 60A(2)).

Work on a public holiday

If your employer requires you to work on a paid public holiday, a monthly-paid employee receives two days' wages at the ordinary rate on top of the holiday pay already in your salary, however short the day, and at least 3 times the hourly rate for each hour beyond normal hours (section 60D(3)(a)(i) and (aa)). On RM3,000 that is RM230.77 for the day, plus RM43.27 for each extra hour. You get eleven paid gazetted public holidays a year, five of them fixed: National Day, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's Birthday, the Ruler's or Governor's Birthday for your state (or Federal Territory Day), Workers' Day and Malaysia Day (section 60D(1)).

The limits: 104 hours a month, 12 hours a day

The Employment (Limitation of Overtime Work) Regulations set the overtime limit at a total of 104 hours in any one month, and work on rest days and public holidays does not count toward it. Going beyond it needs the Director General of Labour's permission (section 60A(4)). No employer may require you to work more than 12 hours in any one day, except in an emergency such as an accident, urgent work on machinery or an interruption nobody could foresee (section 60A(7)).

Who the rates apply to

The Act covers everyone in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan with a contract of service, but its overtime, rest day and public holiday pay rules do not apply above RM4,000 a month (counting wages without commission, subsistence allowance or overtime). The exception, whatever the wages, is the First Schedule's other group: manual labour, operating or maintaining vehicles, supervising manual workers, and certain ship crew. Above RM4,000 in an office job, your contract decides: the same rates, time off, or nothing. Ask before you sign.

How to check your own OT

  1. Find your monthly wages on your pay slip: basic salary plus any fixed cash allowance for your work, leaving out travelling allowance and bonus.
  2. Divide by 26, then by your normal hours a day. That is your hourly rate.
  3. Multiply by 1.5, 2 or 3 depending on the day, and by the hours beyond normal.
  4. Compare with the OT line on the pay slip. If the figure is lower, ask HR to show the working; an employer may use its own method only if it pays no less (section 60I(2)).

Keep a record of late days: when you left and who asked.

What we do at BlackRevo

We do not run on overtime. Work is planned inside normal hours, 10:00 to 19:00 with an hour for lunch, and nobody is expected to stay past them. If you choose to stay late to finish something, nobody here will count it against you or for you. If a manager ever needs you beyond normal hours, it is agreed before it happens, and it is handled the way the Act requires for the people the Act covers. The rest day is Sunday for most of the company, and Muslim colleagues get an extra hour on Friday for prayers.

Our open roles are on the careers page.

Close-up of an office wall clock reading seven, with a laptop lid being closed in the foreground
Seven o'clock.

Source: the Employment Act 1955 (Act 265), reprint as at 1 August 2023, sections 2, 59, 60, 60A, 60D and 60I and the First Schedule, and the Employment (Limitation of Overtime Work) Regulations.

FAQ

How do you calculate overtime pay in Malaysia?

Divide your monthly wages by 26, then by your normal hours a day (usually 8), for the hourly rate. Overtime is at least 1.5 times that on a working day, and 2 times on a rest day and 3 times on a public holiday beyond normal hours. On RM3,000: RM14.42 an hour, RM21.63 for a normal-day overtime hour.

What is the maximum working hours in Malaysia?

8 hours a day and 45 hours a week of normal hours, with one rest day a week and a 30-minute break after no more than 5 hours of work. Overtime is capped at 104 hours a month, and no employer may require more than 12 hours in a day outside an emergency.

Who is entitled to overtime pay in Malaysia?

The Employment Act's overtime, rest day and public holiday rates apply to employees earning RM4,000 a month or less, and whatever they earn to people in manual labour, those who operate or maintain vehicles, supervisors of manual workers and certain ship crew. Above RM4,000 in an office role, the contract decides.

Is staying late voluntarily counted as overtime?

It depends on whether the time was work. The Act counts time at your employer's disposal as hours of work, so work you are asked to do, or that your employer knows about and accepts, counts; time that is genuinely your own does not. If you are asked to stay, get it in writing.

Why is salary divided by 26 in Malaysia?

Because section 60I of the Employment Act sets the ordinary rate of pay for a monthly-paid employee as the monthly rate of pay divided by 26, whatever the month's length. It is the divisor for overtime, holiday pay and leave encashment. Unpaid leave uses a different rule, calendar days, under section 18A.

Yap Pat Yih: Yap Pat Yih is Co-founder and General Manager of BlackRevo and looks after the team, the hiring and the HR system they run on.

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