Malaysia Overtime Pay Calculator (Employment Act)

About the Malaysia Overtime Pay Calculator (Employment Act)

Work out overtime pay in Malaysia the way the Employment Act sets it and JTKSM — the Department of Labour of Peninsular Malaysia — calculates it: the monthly salary divided by 26 gives the ordinary rate of pay for a day, that divided by the normal hours gives the hourly rate of pay, and each hour beyond the normal hours is paid at 1.5 times that on a working day, 2.0 times on a rest day and 3.0 times on a public holiday. A RM2,600 salary on 8-hour days gives RM12.50 an hour and RM18.75 for each overtime hour.

Beyond JTKSM’s own calculator it adds the pay for the normal hours of a rest day or public holiday worked, daily- and hourly-paid employees, the RM4,000 line above which only manual workers keep these rates, and the legal limits on hours. Nothing you type leaves your browser. Without a pass the page gives a free preview of your own result: the rates and the checks that apply, with every amount hidden until you unlock it with a Pro pass.

The ordinary and the hourly rate of pay

The ordinary rate of pay (ORP) is one day’s wages for the normal hours of work. For a monthly-paid employee the Act fixes it as the monthly rate of pay divided by 26; for a daily-, hourly- or piece-rated employee it is the wages of the last wage period divided by the days actually worked. The hourly rate of pay (HRP) is the ORP divided by the normal hours of work in a day (Employment Act section 60I, Act 265). An employer may use another formula only if it gives at least as much.

JTKSM’s examples for a 45-hour week: with 7.5-hour days over six days, HRP = salary ÷ 26 ÷ 7.5; with 8 hours from Monday to Friday and 5 hours on Saturday, HRP = salary ÷ 26 ÷ 8 (JTKSM’s questions and answers2022.pdf)).

Overtime rates

Overtime is the work done beyond the normal hours of a day — and all work after a spread-over of 10 hours. The Act sets the minimum rates (Act 265):

• Working day: at least 1.5 × HRP for every hour beyond the normal hours (section 60A(3)).
• Rest day: 2 × HRP for every hour beyond the normal hours (section 60(3)(c)).
• Public holiday: 3 × HRP for every hour beyond the normal hours (section 60D(3)).

These are the three lines of JTKSM’s overtime calculator, which this calculator matches line by line. A contract may pay more, never less.

Working on a rest day or a public holiday

The normal hours of a rest day are paid on top of the salary (section 60(3)): a monthly-paid employee gets half the ORP for work of up to half the normal hours and one ORP for more; a daily-, hourly- or piece-rated employee gets one ORP and two ORPs. An employee cannot be compelled to work on a rest day, except in continuous shift work or the emergencies the Act lists.

On a public holiday the employee gets two days’ wages at the ORP on top of the holiday pay — a monthly salary already includes the holiday — however short the work (section 60D(3)). Every employee has eleven paid gazetted public holidays a year, five of them fixed: National Day, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s birthday, the Ruler’s or Yang di-Pertua Negeri’s birthday (Federal Territory Day in a Federal Territory), Workers’ Day and Malaysia Day.

Who the rates apply to

Since the amendments by Act A1651 the Employment Act covers every private-sector employee in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, but an employee earning more than RM4,000 a month who is not a manual worker is not entitled to these overtime, rest-day and public-holiday rates — nor to statutory termination benefits (JTKSM’s questions and answers2022.pdf), question 7). Their overtime, if any, is what the contract says. Sabah and Sarawak have their own Labour Ordinances.

Limits on working hours

Normal hours may not exceed 8 a day (or 9 when other days of the week are shorter) and 45 a week, with a break of at least 30 minutes after five hours of work (section 60A(1), as amended by Act A1651). No one may be made to work more than 12 hours in a day, and overtime may not exceed 104 hours a month (Employment (Limitation of Overtime Work) Regulations); work on rest days and public holidays does not count towards the 104 hours. The Director General of Labour can allow more.

Overtime and contributions

Overtime pay is not subject to EPF, but it is part of the wages for SOCSO, LINDUNG 24 Jam and EIS. See the EPF calculator and the SOCSO and EIS calculator.

Limitations

• Follows the Employment Act 1955 for Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan; Sabah and Sarawak have their own Labour Ordinances.
• Piece-rated employees (overtime and rest days paid per piece), weekly-paid employees (whose ordinary rate of pay is the weekly rate ÷ 6) and shift allowances are not worked out.
• The hours are entered for the month as a whole: the calculator cannot check the 12-hour day or the 10-hour spread-over day by day.
• Above RM4,000 a month the statutory rates apply only to manual workers; the calculator shows what the rates would give and says so.
• A collective agreement or the contract may pay more than the statutory minimum.

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