Working hours and overtime: limits, conditions, how to calculate

“Working late is normal in tech” is something people say a lot. This guide is not here to argue with that, but so you know the limits, the calculation basis and the conditions for overtime under the rules in force, and can decide for yourself with enough information.

Normal working hours

The regulated working time is (Law 6/2023 Art. 77; PP 35/2021 Art. 21):

• 7 hours a day and 40 hours a week for a 6-day week; or
• 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week for a 5-day week.

This does not apply to certain business sectors or jobs, and how hours are applied in a company is set in the employment agreement, company regulation or collective agreement.

Rest: at least half an hour after 4 continuous hours of work, outside working hours, and a weekly rest of 1 day for a 6-day week (Law 6/2023 Art. 79(2)). Constitutional Court Decision 168/PUU-XXI/2023 confirms that weekly rest also covers 2 days for a 5-day week, as already stated in PP 35/2021 Art. 22.

Conditions for overtime

Overtime is work beyond those hours. The conditions (PP 35/2021 Arts. 26 to 29):

• An order from the employer and your consent, in writing and/or through digital media (a recorded chat or email can count). Consent may take the form of a signed list of workers willing to work overtime, and the employer must keep a record of overtime done with names and duration.
• Limit: at most 4 hours a day and 18 hours a week. The limit does not include overtime on weekly rest days or official holidays.
• Company duties: pay overtime, allow adequate rest, and provide food and drink of at least 1,400 kcal when overtime lasts 4 hours or more. Food and drink cannot be replaced by money.

How overtime pay is calculated

Hourly wage = 1/173 times monthly wage (PP 35/2021 Art. 32(2)).

The monthly wage base: if your pay is basic wage plus fixed allowances, the base is 100% of that pay. If it is basic wage, fixed allowances and non-fixed allowances, and basic plus fixed is less than 75% of total pay, the base is 75% of total pay (Art. 32(3) and (4)). That is why the wage breakdown in your contract matters. See check your contract.

Overtime on a working day (Art. 31(1)):

• first overtime hour: 1.5 times hourly wage;
• each hour after that: 2 times hourly wage.

Overtime on a weekly rest day or official holiday, 6-day week (Art. 31(2)):

• hours 1 to 7: 2 times hourly wage;
• hour 8: 3 times;
• hours 9 to 11: 4 times.

5-day week (Art. 31(3)):

• hours 1 to 8: 2 times hourly wage;
• hour 9: 3 times;
• hours 10 to 12: 4 times.

Example: if your monthly wage (basic plus fixed allowances) is Rp12,000,000, hourly wage = 12,000,000 / 173 = about Rp69,364. Three hours of overtime on a working day = (1.5 x 69,364) + (2 x 69,364) + (2 x 69,364) = about Rp381,500. This is only an illustration.

If you are paid daily, the monthly wage is daily wage x 25 for a 6-day week or x 21 for a 5-day week (Art. 33(1)).

“I am well paid, so apparently there is no overtime”

The duty to pay overtime is indeed waived for workers in certain job grades: those who act as thinkers, planners, implementers and/or controllers of how the company runs, whose working time cannot be limited and who earn more. Those job grades must be set out in the employment agreement, company regulation or collective agreement. If they are not set out there, the employer must pay overtime (PP 35/2021 Art. 27(2) to (5)).

So to check: is your role named as an exempt grade in company documents? Titles like “senior” or “lead” do not automatically qualify.

On-call, shifts and working from home

In the sources we checked there is no specific provision on on-call or standby outside working hours. Check your agreement or company regulation, and ask in writing how on-call time is counted. Companies in certain sectors may apply working time shorter or longer than the general rule under special arrangements (PP 35/2021 Arts. 23 to 25).

Practical steps

1. Log your real working and overtime hours (date, start, end, what you worked on).
2. Keep written or digital overtime orders, including messages from your manager.
3. Compare with your payslip: is there an overtime component?
4. If there is a gap, ask HR or your manager in writing, politely.
5. If it is not resolved, talk to an adviser or the district or city manpower office.

When to get help

• Regular overtime with no pay and no consent from you.
• Repeatedly working beyond 4 hours a day or 18 hours a week of overtime.
• You are threatened if you refuse overtime.

Places to try: the district or city manpower office, LBH (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum, legal aid institutes), or a lawyer. REKATI is not affiliated with them and does not take cases.

Overtime and working-time rules can differ for certain sectors. If you work in a specially regulated sector, check your sector’s rules too.