Weekend, holiday and night work: pay and paperwork

Rest days and public holidays under the Labour Code

With a five-day week employees get two days off, with a six-day week one; Sunday is the common day off (Art. 207). Public holidays are listed in Article 208: 1 January, 8 March, 21 March (Navruz), 9 May, 1 September, 1 October, 8 December, and the first days of Ramadan Hayit (Eid al-Fitr) and Qurbon Hayit (Eid al-Adha). If a day off falls on a public holiday, it moves to the next working day.

On the eve of public holidays the shift is shortened by at least one hour for all employees. Where this is impossible, the extra time is compensated with additional rest or, with the employee's consent, paid at overtime rates (Art. 187).

When an employee can be called in

The general rule is written consent, and only for unforeseen work whose urgent completion determines the normal operation of the organisation or a unit (Art. 209). The list of such work is set by the collective agreement or, if there is none, by the employer in agreement with the trade union committee; for an IE — by the employment contract.

On public holidays the law also allows work that cannot be stopped for technical reasons, services to the public, and urgent repairs and loading and unloading.

• Without consent — only in the exceptional cases of Article 210: disasters, accidents, fires, epidemics; preventing accidents; restoring water, gas, heating, lighting, transport and communication systems; preventing destruction or damage of the employer's property.
• Employees under 18 may not work on rest days, holidays or at night (Art. 417), except creative workers and athletes under approved lists.
• Pregnant women and parents of children under 14 (a disabled child under 16) — only with written consent and after being told of their right to refuse (Art. 396).

How to document it

The call-in is formalised by an employer's order. The employee gives consent by an application or by signing the order to confirm agreement to work on the rest day or holiday (Art. 212). If an employee is called in without consent, the order states the exceptional case under Article 210.

Breaching the procedure does not remove the duty to pay: even if the employee came in without an order or consent, the employer must pay as provided by Article 263 (Art. 211). The number of such days may be limited by the collective agreement.

Pay for rest-day and holiday work

Work on a rest day or public holiday is paid at no less than double (Art. 263). A collective agreement, local regulation or employment contract may set more.

• Piece-rate workers — at least double piece rates.
• Daily or hourly tariff rate — at least double the daily or hourly rate.
• Salaried employees — at least a single daily or hourly rate on top of salary for each day or hour worked.
• At the employee's choice, another day off is given instead of the higher pay; the work is then paid at least at the single rate and the day off is unpaid.
• If under the roster the employee works on Saturday or Sunday and gets days off on other days, that work is paid at the single rate. Holiday work is always paid at least double — both under a roster and when called in.

Night work

Night time is from 22:00 to 6:00 (Art. 188). If at least half of a shift falls at night, it is shortened by one hour without making up the time. This does not apply to employees hired specifically for night work or those already on reduced hours, unless the collective agreement provides otherwise.

Night hours are paid at least one and a half times (Art. 264): for time-based pay — with a factor of 1.5 or more for each night hour; for piece-rate pay — piece earnings plus at least 50% of the hourly rate of a time-rate worker of the same grade. The premium is not included in the salary — the exact amount is fixed in the collective agreement, a local regulation or the employment contract.

Example and taxes

An employee on a salary of 6,000,000 soums with 22 working days in the month worked one Saturday under an order. The daily rate is 6,000,000 / 22 ≈ 272,727 soums. The minimum extra on top of salary is one daily rate, about 6,272,727 soums for the month. If the employee chooses a day off in lieu, the salary is kept and the day worked is paid at the single rate.

For tax purposes these premiums are part of salary: extras for night work, overtime, rest days and holidays are compensation payments included in employment income (Art. 373 of the Tax Code). PIT is withheld and social tax is charged in the usual way. Record the hours in the timesheet — without it the premium cannot be supported during an inspection.