Urgent Proposal Seeks Overtime Pay or Time Off for Public Workers

An urgent proposal passed by the Council of Representatives on Tuesday calls for public-sector staff to receive overdue overtime pay, or to be allowed to take compensatory time off before it is lost once their annual leave reaches the legal ceiling, while also seeking payment of any due allowances, incentives and promotions.

MP Saleh Buanaq, one of the sponsors, said the proposal was meant to secure staff rights that arise from extra hours worked outside official time. He said employees should either be paid the amount due for overtime, or be able to use the compensatory hours added to their leave balance before they run into the maximum permitted limit.

He said the proposal also covers other workplace entitlements, including allowances, incentives and promotions, to be awarded under civil service rules and the laws in force. Buanaq said some employees face delays in receiving overtime pay, or cannot use compensatory hours after they have been added to their annual leave. He described cases where leave balances exceed the permitted maximum of 75 days because staff are not allowed to take annual leave when their workplace says it needs them, and any surplus cannot be carried over to the next year.

In those cases, he said, the employee loses days they earned through extra work, treating the extra hours as if they were done without pay or time off in return. The explanatory memorandum says the proposal aims to protect public employees’ financial rights
for work done outside official hours, allow compensatory time off to be taken before it lapses, improve the work setting and job satisfaction, and ensure that due allowances, incentives and promotions are paid under civil service regulations.

The sponsors said they submitted it under an urgent procedure because continued delays and lost compensatory leave were already affecting a section of public-sector staff.