Labour Law in Kuwait

A Dutch construction company, XYZ, has operations in over 40 cities worldwide and employs more than 50,000 staff. Employees working on-site work in twelve-hour day and night shifts. XYZ has recently set up operations in Kuwait ("XYZ Kuwait"), hiring local staff as well as bringing a number of existing employees to Kuwait on assignment for a one-year period to train the local employees. The managing partner of XYZ Kuwait would like to know how Kuwaiti law addresses the following issues with respect to the local employees and particularly to the foreign employees on assignment, given that their employment contracts are subject to the laws of the Netherlands.

What are the permissible working hours and how is overtime calculated?

Kuwait's Law No. 6 of 2010 (the "Labor Law") regulates the labor law in Kuwait and applies to workers in the private sector. The Labor Law states that employees may not work for more than 48 hours per week or 8 hours per day, except as otherwise specified in the Labor Law. The working hours for employees working in the financial, commercial, and investment sectors are equal to eight consecutive hours. Employees not working in these sectors may not be required to work more than five consecutive hours a day without a break of minimum one hour that is not included in the working hours. Notwithstanding the above, an employer may require their employees to work overtime in the following circumstances: (i) if the necessity arises for the purpose of preventing a dangerous accident; (ii) for repairing damages arising from a dangerous accident; or (iii) to avoid a loss or if the employer faces an unusual work load. However, such overtime may not exceed two hours per day, 180 hours per year, three days a week, or 90 days a year. Employees are entitled to overtime payments of a 25% increase over the original remuneration for the period of overtime. Based on the above, XYZ Kuwait will be in violation of the Labor Law if it requires employees to work in twelve-hour shifts and will be required to make overtime payments to employees who work beyond the permissible working hours, provided that such services are provided under one of the circumstances described above. With respect to the XYZ employees on assignment in Kuwait, such employees must obtain a work permit in order to work legally in Kuwait. Kuwait's Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor ("MOSAL") requires that all applicants for work permits sign off on a short-form...