Section 65
Hours of work
(1)
Except as hereinafter provided, an employee shall not be required under his contract of service to work for —
(a)
more than 6 consecutive hours without a period of leisure;
(b)
more than 8 hours in one day or for more than 44 hours in one week:
Provided that —
(i)
an employee who is engaged in work which must be carried on continuously may be required to work for 8 consecutive hours, inclusive of a period or periods of not less than 45 minutes in the aggregate, during which he shall have the opportunity to have a meal;
(ii)
where under a contract of service, the number of hours of work on one or more days of the week is
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less than 8, the limit of 8 hours may be exceeded on the remaining days of the week, but no employee shall be required to work for more than 9 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week;
(iii)
where under a contract of service, the number of days on which the employee is required to work in a week is not more than 5 days, the limit of 8 hours in one day may be exceeded, but no employee shall be required to work for more than 9 hours in one day or 44 hours in one week; and
(iv)
where under a contract of service, the number of hours of work in every alternate week is less than 44, the limit of 44 hours in one week may be exceeded in the other week, but no employee shall be required to work for more than 48 hours in one week or for more than 88 hours in any continuous period of 2 weeks.
(2)
An employee may be required by his employer to exceed the limit of hours set out in subsection (1) and to work on a rest day or a public holiday, in the case of —
(a)
an accident, actual or threatened;
(b)
any work, the performance of which is essential to the life of the community;
(c)
any work which is essential for defence or security;
(d)
any urgent work to be done to any machinery or plant;
(e)
any interruption of work which was impossible to foresee;
(f)
work to be performed by employees in any industrial undertaking essential to the economy of Brunei Darussalam or in any of the essential services as defined in section 3(3) of the
Internal Security Act (Chapter 133) for the purposes of that section.
(3)
In the event of any dispute, the Commissioner shall have the power to decide whether or not the employer was justified in calling upon the employee to work in the circumstances specified in subsection 2(f).
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(4)
If an employee at the request of the employer works —
(a)
for more than 8 hours in one day, except as provided in paragraphs (ii) and (iii) of the proviso to subsection (1), or for more than 9 hours in one day in any case specified in those paragraphs; or
(b)
for more than 44 hours in one week, except as provided in paragraph (iv) of the proviso to subsection (1), or for more than 48 hours in any one week or more than 88 hours in any continuous period of 2 weeks in any case specified in that paragraph, he shall be paid for such extra work at the rate of not less than one and one-half of his hourly basic rate of pay, irrespective of the basis on which his rate of pay is fixed.
(5)
An employee shall not be permitted to work overtime for more than 72 hours a month.
(6)
For the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee, his hourly basic rate of salary shall be calculated in accordance with the following formula —
(a)
in the case of a person employed on a monthly rate of pay —
12 X the employee’s monthly basic rate of salary 52 X 44 hours; and
(b)
in the case of a person employed on piece rates —
the total weekly salary at the basic rate of salary received the total number of hours worked in the week.
(7)
The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, make regulations for the purpose of calculating the payment due for overtime to an employee employed on piece rates.
(8)
Except in the circumstances described in subsection (2), an employee shall not be permitted to work for more than 12 hours in any one day.
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(9)
This section does not apply to employees engaged in the fire and rescue service or in any work which by its nature involves long hours of inactive or stand-by employment.