Qatar labour law: Qatar labour law,
reduced to what HR uses.

What are the working hours in Qatar?

The standard is eight hours a day and forty-eight hours a week. During Ramadan it falls to six hours a day and thirty-six a week. Friday is the weekly rest day for most workers.

How is overtime paid in Qatar?

Hours beyond the standard day are paid at the basic wage plus at least 25 per cent. Work between 9pm and 3am is paid at the basic wage plus at least 50 per cent, which does not apply to shift workers. Total working hours, overtime included, should not normally pass ten in a day.

How much annual leave do employees get in Qatar?

The step from three weeks to four at five years is the entitlement most often missed, because it depends on a service anniversary and not on a grade or a policy.

How does sick leave work in Qatar?

An employee qualifies for paid sick leave after three months of service, with a medical certificate. The first two weeks are on full pay, the next four weeks on half pay, and any further absence is unpaid.

How is end-of-service gratuity calculated in Qatar?

An employee who has completed at least one year of service is owed a gratuity of no less than three weeks of basic wage for each year of service. The contract may set a higher figure, never a lower one. It is calculated on the last basic wage, so the split between basic pay and allowances decides the amount.

Housing, transport and other allowances are left out unless the employment contract says otherwise, and part years count in proportion. Our calculator divides the last basic monthly wage by 30 for a daily wage, then multiplies it by 21 days for each year of service.

What are the probation and notice rules in Qatar?

Probation may not exceed six months. After the 2020 amendments, notice is one month during the first two years of service and two months after that, for either side. An employee no longer needs the employer's permission to move to another employer, provided the notice is served.

What is the minimum wage in Qatar?

Since 2021 Qatar has had a minimum wage that applies to every worker regardless of nationality or sector: a basic wage of at least QAR 1,000 a month, plus QAR 500 for housing and QAR 300 for food where the employer does not provide them.

How does Qatar's Wage Protection System work?

Wages must be paid in Qatari riyals into the employee's account at a financial institution in Qatar, through the Wage Protection System.

A monthly wage falls due on the first day of each Gregorian month and has to be transferred within seven days of it, under Ministerial Decision No. 4 of 2015 as amended by No. 50 of 2026. An employer in breach can have new work permits and its other ministry transactions stopped until it proves the arrears are paid.

Besides paying in riyals through a bank in Qatar, the employer reports each month's wages to the Ministry of Labour with a salary information file.

How does DenwaysHR handle these rules for a team in Qatar?

DenwaysHR runs employee records, attendance, rosters, leave and approvals for Qatari teams today. It does not produce Qatar's salary information file, so the month's riyal payroll stays in the system you already run, fed by a CSV export of attendance, leave and overtime.

• Ramadan hours: HR sets a dated rule that takes two hours off the eight-hour day, for everyone or for the people HR lists. On those dates overtime starts after six hours and the weekly limit falls from 48 hours to 36
• Sick leave: a leave type can wait for three months' service, counted from the joining date, before an employee can use it
• Annual leave: three weeks is set as a leave type. The step to four weeks at five years is not applied by itself yet, so HR makes that change
• Probation: the end date sits on the employee record and is flagged before it passes, alongside the Qatar ID, residence permit and contract dates
• Qatar ID and passport numbers: held on the record with their proof documents, checked against the expected format as they are typed, stored encrypted and masked for anyone below HR
• Gratuity: the free Qatar gratuity calculator applies the minimum and shows every step