Uzbekistan revises overtime pay rules as most civil servants report unpaid extra hours

According to the new law adopted on November 11, employees will now receive at least 1.5 times their regular pay for the first two hours of overtime work in a day and double pay for any additional hours. The previous rule required all overtime hours to be paid at no less than double the regular rate, while also capping total overtime at 120 hours per year – a limit that has now been abolished.

The Ministry of Justice announced the amendments through its Legal Information Telegram channel, noting that the law also includes measures to clarify the powers of the Migration Agency and expand the rights and obligations of private employment agencies.

Under the new provisions, private employment agencies are granted additional rights, including the ability to:

• organize vocational and foreign language training for job seekers, involving foreign employers in the process;

• independently manage interest income earned from depositing reserved funds in commercial banks.

Despite the updated legal framework, surveys suggest that overtime compensation remains a widespread issue in the public sector. A 2023 anonymous survey conducted by the Yuksalish Nationwide Movement among civil servants found that 57.3 percent of respondents had been required to work overtime, while 81.7 percent said they had not received additional pay for the extra hours.

Currently, Article 262 of Uzbekistan’s Labor Code stipulates that employees must be compensated for overtime work at a rate of no less than double their regular pay.