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Is Overtime Pay Required in Nigeria?

There is no statutory overtime rate in Nigeria. Here is what the law actually says, and what sets your rate instead.

What applies instead

Section 13 defines overtime as hours beyond those agreed and sets no rate anywhere in the Act. Rates come from your contract, a collective agreement or an industrial wages board. Section 91 also excludes people doing administrative, executive, technical or professional work, so most office staff have no entitlement under the Act at all.

The law

Labour Act Cap L1 LFN 2004 s. 13

Where a rate does exist

Most countries do set one, and several set more than one. Kenya pays time and a half and double on a rest day; South Africa the same, though earnings above the threshold remove the right altogether; Ghana, like Nigeria, sets no rate at all.

Questions people ask

Does Nigerian law set an overtime rate?
No. Section 13 of the Labour Act fixes normal hours by agreement, collective bargaining or an industrial wages board, and defines overtime as the hours beyond them. No multiplier appears anywhere in the Act. Section 13(7)(b) mentions wages at overtime rates without ever defining what those rates are.
So what decides my overtime rate?
Your contract of employment, a collective agreement covering your workplace, or a wages board order for your industry. In practice many Nigerian employers apply time and a half or double time by convention, but that is a term of the bargain, not a legal minimum, and you can only enforce what your own contract or agreement says.
Am I even covered by the Labour Act?
Possibly not. Section 91 defines a worker as someone doing manual labour or clerical work, and expressly excludes people whose work is administrative, executive, technical or professional. Most white-collar Nigerian staff therefore fall outside the Act's overtime provisions entirely and depend wholly on their contract.
Is there a legal limit on my hours?
The Act does not impose a general weekly ceiling comparable to the European ones. Section 13 requires that normal hours be fixed, and it entitles a worker to a rest interval and to at least one day of rest in each period of seven days. Beyond that, hours are a matter for the agreement between you and your employer.
Will this change?
A Labour Standards Bill that would set statutory overtime rates has been before the National Assembly since 2008 and has not been enacted. Until it is, the position above is the law. This page is reviewed for changes.
What should I do if I am not being paid for overtime?
Start with the document that creates the right: your contract, your staff handbook or the collective agreement. Overtime worked outside what those provide for is not automatically payable under the Act, so the written term is what you are enforcing. Keep your own record of the hours.

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