Working Hours in Indonesia: Overtime Calculation and Limits
Standard working hours in Indonesia are 40 a week on one of two patterns. See the overtime limits, how overtime pay is calculated and who is not paid overtime.
References (2)
- UU No. 27 Tahun 2026 on Manpower Protection, in force 28 October 2026, revoking UU No. 13 Tahun 2003. Article 115 sets the two working patterns, the sectors with their own hours and where the hours are written. Article 116 sets the consent, the order, the overtime limit, the first-hour and later-hour rates and the hourly wage; its explanatory notes define overtime. Article 118(2)(a) and (b) sets the break and the weekly rest days. Article 125 covers work on official holidays and the rest-day and holiday rates. Article 310 keeps the regulations made under the old law in force where they do not conflict with it.
- PP No. 35 Tahun 2021, in force 2 February 2021, kept in force by UU 27/2026, Article 310. Article 26(2) leaves rest-day and holiday overtime out of the limit, and its explanatory notes define an official holiday. Article 27 covers the positions not paid overtime. Article 28 covers the list of employees and the record. Article 29 covers food, drink and rest. Article 32(4) covers pay that includes non-fixed allowances. Article 34 covers overtime paid under another name.
Standard working hours in Indonesia are 40 a week, worked on one of two patterns: six days or five. Time beyond the daily or weekly hours is overtime. It needs the employer’s order and the employee’s consent, and, outside the positions PP 35/2021 exempts (described below), it is paid at a multiple of the hourly wage. The rules sit in the new manpower law, UU 27/2026, in force since 28 October 2026. Government Regulation (PP) 35/2021, made under the old law, stays in force where it does not conflict with the new one (Article 310), and fills in the detail.
Standard working hours in Indonesia
An employer applies one of two patterns (UU 27/2026, Articles 115(2) and 118(2)(b)):
- A six-day week: 7 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with one rest day a week.
- A five-day week: 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with two rest days a week.
The week is 40 hours either way. How the hours are arranged in a company is written into the employment contract, the company regulations (peraturan perusahaan) or the collective agreement (UU 27/2026, Article 115(4)).
After four hours of continuous work an employee gets a break of at least half an hour, and the break is not counted as working time (UU 27/2026, Article 118(2)(a)). Annual leave and other paid leave have a guide of their own.
Not every employer follows the standard working hours in Indonesia. Some sectors and kinds of work, such as offshore oil drilling, long-distance driving and work on ships, have hours of their own: the standard does not apply to them, and further rules are for a Government Regulation (UU 27/2026, Article 115(3) and (5), and the explanatory notes to Article 115(3)).
When overtime is allowed
Overtime is time worked beyond the daily and weekly hours above, and time worked on a weekly rest day or an official holiday (UU 27/2026, explanatory notes to Article 116(1)(c)). Four rules apply:
- An order and consent. The employee concerned agrees, and the employer orders the overtime in writing, digitally or both (UU 27/2026, Article 116(1)(a) and (b)). The order and the consent may take the form of a list of the employees willing to work overtime, signed by them and by the employer, and the employer keeps a record of who worked overtime and for how long (PP 35/2021, Article 28(2) and (3)).
- A limit. The standard limit is 4 hours a day and 18 hours a week (UU 27/2026, Article 116(1)(c)). PP 35/2021, Article 26(2), leaves overtime worked on a weekly rest day or official holiday out of that limit; the regulation stays in force where it does not conflict with the new law (UU 27/2026, Article 310). The limit does not apply to certain sectors and kinds of work (UU 27/2026, Article 116(4)).
- Food and drink. Where overtime runs to four hours or more, the employer provides food and drink, which cannot be replaced by money (PP 35/2021, Article 29(1)(c) and (2)).
- Rest. During overtime the employer also gives the employee enough opportunity to rest (PP 35/2021, Article 29(1)(b)).
How overtime pay is calculated
Overtime pay (upah lembur) is a multiple of one hour’s wage. One hour’s wage is basic wage plus fixed allowances, divided by 173 (UU 27/2026, Article 116(3)). A fixed allowance is one paid in a fixed amount at a fixed time, not tied to attendance or performance (explanatory notes to Article 116(3)).
PP 35/2021, Article 32(4), adds a rule for pay that includes non-fixed allowances: where basic wage plus fixed allowances comes to less than 75% of the whole wage, overtime is worked out on 75% of the whole wage. The new law’s Article 116(3) names only basic wage and fixed allowances, and PP 35/2021 stays in force where it does not conflict with it (Article 310). Our guide to which allowances are fixed and which are not covers the difference.
A company that already pays overtime under another name may keep doing so where the value equals or beats the statutory calculation (PP 35/2021, Article 34(1)). How it is paid is set out in the employment contract, company regulations or collective agreement (Article 34(3)).
On a working day
The first hour of overtime is paid at 1.5 times the hourly wage, and each hour after it at twice the hourly wage (UU 27/2026, Article 116(2)). Take an employee on a monthly wage of IDR 8,650,000, made up of basic wage and fixed allowances only, so one hour is IDR 50,000. They stay three hours late on a weekday evening.
| Description | IDR |
|---|---|
| First hour 1 hour × 1.5 × 50,000 | 75,000 |
| Second and third hours 2 hours × 2 × 50,000 | 200,000 |
| Overtime pay for the evening | 275,000 |
On a weekly rest day or official holiday
On a weekly rest day or an official holiday every hour worked is overtime from the first, and the rate rises as the day gets longer (UU 27/2026, Article 125(3) and (4)). An official holiday is a national holiday, a day declared a holiday nationally, or a holiday set by a regional government (PP 35/2021, explanatory notes to Article 26(2)).
Nobody is obliged to work an official holiday. An employer may ask an employee to work one where the work has to run continuously, or otherwise by agreement, and overtime pay is then owed (UU 27/2026, Article 125(1) to (3)).
| 2 times | 3 times | 4 times | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-day week | Hours 1 to 8 | Hour 9 | Hours 10 to 12 |
| Six-day week | Hours 1 to 7 | Hour 8 | Hours 9 to 11 |
| Short day | Hours 1 to 5 | Hour 6 | Hours 7 to 9 |
The short-day row applies only on a six-day week, where an official holiday falls on the shortest working day (UU 27/2026, Article 125(3)(b)). Our calendar of national holidays and collective leave lists the dates.
Who is not paid overtime
PP 35/2021, which stays in force where it does not conflict with the new law (UU 27/2026, Article 310), lifts the duty to pay overtime for employees in a certain category of positions (PP 35/2021, Article 27(2)). These are people responsible for thinking, planning, implementing or controlling the running of the company, whose working time cannot be limited and who receive a higher wage (Article 27(3)).
It has to be written down
The category must be set out in the employment contract, company regulations or collective agreement. Where it is not, overtime pay is owed (PP 35/2021, Article 27(4) and (5)).
What this means for you
Write the working pattern into the employment contract, the company regulations or the collective agreement. If a category of positions is not paid overtime, write that down too. Our payroll team processes each month’s overtime in the payroll run, as agreed with you. Our HR consulting team writes the overtime arrangements, and any category of positions not paid overtime, into the employment agreements and company regulations it drafts.