Kuwait labour law at a glance
Law No. 6 of 2010 for the private sector: 48-hour weeks, 30 days of annual leave, 75 days of tiered sick leave and an indemnity capped at 18 months.
Governing law
Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 (private sector)
Kuwait regulates private-sector employment through Law No. 6 of 2010, which replaced the 1964 law and is administered by the Public Authority for Manpower. It applies to every private-sector employee in the country, Kuwaiti and expatriate alike, and its terms are a floor: a contract may improve on them and may not fall below them.
For most HR teams the law comes down to a handful of recurring calculations — how many hours are owed in a week, how leave accrues, what a sick day pays, how much notice a resignation needs, and what the indemnity comes to on the last day. Those are the figures below.
The two that cause the most disputes are the end-of-service indemnity, where Article 53 reduces the award for an employee who resigns before ten years, and sick leave, where Article 69 pays five different rates across a single 75-day allowance.
At a glance
| Governing law | Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 |
|---|---|
| Standard hours | 8 hours a day, 48 a week |
| Ramadan hours | 36 hours a week |
| Weekly rest | At least 24 consecutive hours, normally Friday |
| Annual leave | 30 days a year (Art. 70) |
| Sick leave | 75 days a year, five pay tiers (Art. 69) |
| Maternity leave | 70 days paid (Art. 24) |
| Probation | Up to 100 working days (Art. 30) |
| Notice period | 3 months for monthly-paid staff (Art. 44) |
| End of service | 15 days a year for 5 years, then a month a year — capped at 18 months (Art. 51) |
| Overtime | +25% on a working day, +50% on a rest day, +100% on a public holiday |
| Minimum wage | KD 75 a month in the private sector |
These rules, enforced automatically
Set the working week, leave entitlements and rest days once. Dawam applies them to every timesheet, leave balance and payslip after that — no manual counting, no rule remembered wrong.
The working week
Eight hours a day and 48 a week is the ceiling, with no more than five consecutive hours without a break. During Ramadan the week drops to 36 hours. Every employee is owed at least 24 consecutive hours of rest a week — the statute names no particular day, but Friday is the settled practice and most employers now run a Friday–Saturday weekend. Work on a rest day earns the day at a premium and a substitute day off.
Annual leave
Article 70 gives 30 days of paid annual leave a year. It accrues from the first day of service, but the first leave may not be taken until nine months have passed. Official holidays and any sick leave falling inside a leave period do not count against the balance, and leave cannot be waived for cash while the employment continues — untaken days are paid out at the end of service.
Sick leave and other absences
Article 69 gives 75 sick days a year, but not at one rate: the first 15 are at full pay, the next 10 at three-quarters, the next 10 at half, the next 10 at a quarter, and the final 30 are unpaid. A government-approved medical certificate is required. The allowance resets each calendar year and unused days do not carry forward. Maternity leave is 70 days at full pay and sits outside both the annual and sick balances.
Probation, notice and end of service
Probation runs to a maximum of 100 working days with one employer, and either side may end the contract during it. After that, a monthly-paid employee is owed three months of notice — a long period by regional standards, and the one most often shortened by mistake. The end-of-service indemnity is 15 days of wage for each of the first five years and a full month for each year after, capped at 18 months of wage. Article 53 then reduces the award for an employee who resigns: nothing below three years, half from three to five, two-thirds from five to ten, and the whole of it from ten years on.
Overtime, wages and records
Overtime is paid at 125% of the hourly wage on a normal working day, 150% on the weekly rest day and 200% on a public holiday, with a substitute rest day still owed in the last two cases. Wages must be paid at least monthly through the Ministry-approved wage protection channel, and the employer carries the burden of proving hours worked — which is why an attendance record that reconstructs any past day matters more than it looks.
Frequently asked
How many annual leave days are employees entitled to in Kuwait?
Thirty days a year under Article 70. The days accrue from the first day of service, but the first leave cannot be taken until the employee has completed nine months.
How is end-of-service indemnity calculated in Kuwait?
Fifteen days of wage for each of the first five years of service and one month of wage for each year after that, up to a ceiling of 18 months. A day is normally taken as the monthly wage divided by 26. An employee who resigns receives a reduced share under Article 53 until ten years of service.
What is the maximum probation period in Kuwait?
One hundred working days with the same employer, under Article 30. An employee cannot be put on probation twice by the same employer.
How much notice is required to end a contract in Kuwait?
Three months for employees paid monthly, and one month for everyone else, under Article 44. The obligation runs both ways — an employer who terminates and an employee who resigns owe the same period, or pay in lieu of it.
How many sick days does Kuwait give, and are they paid?
Seventy-five days a calendar year under Article 69, paid on a sliding scale: 15 days at full pay, 10 at three-quarters, 10 at half, 10 at a quarter and 30 unpaid. A medical certificate from an approved authority is required.
What is the working week in Kuwait?
Eight hours a day and 48 hours a week, reduced to 36 hours a week during Ramadan. Employees are owed at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, which in practice is Friday, and increasingly Friday and Saturday.
This summary is written for HR and business owners, not as legal advice. Statutes are amended, ministerial decisions change the detail, and contracts and collective agreements routinely improve on the statutory minimum. Check the current text of the law, or your counsel, before acting on a figure here.
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