Hourly Employee Management Software: Part-Time Work, Hourly Pay and Overtime in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Hourly employee management software records the actual hours each hourly or part-time employee works, applies the agreed hourly rate and overtime rules, and turns the result into payroll without spreadsheets in between. If you run a restaurant group in Cairo, a retail chain in Riyadh or a clinic network that leans on flexible staff, you need three things working together: a contract that states the work pattern, attendance data you can trust, and one pay formula the system applies the same way every time. This guide covers the legal framework in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the common hourly-rate formulas, overtime, and a practical rollout plan.

Key takeaways

• Egypt's Labour Law 14/2025 explicitly recognises part-time, flexible and remote work (Art. 96) and applies social insurance and minimum-wage rules to them (Art. 97).
• An hourly rate is usually derived as monthly wage ÷ salary-calculation days ÷ daily hours. The choice of basis matters more than most teams expect.
• Overtime: Egypt +35% day / +70% night; Saudi Arabia hourly wage + 50% of basic.
• The right system connects attendance directly to payroll, so nobody re-types hours.

Legal information here is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the official text or your adviser before applying it.

Why hourly work needs dedicated software

Hourly and part-time arrangements are common in food service, seasonal retail, healthcare, training centres, private schools, warehousing and delivery, and with students or retirees who prefer shorter schedules. The model itself is simple; running it on paper is not. Typical failure points:

• punches that were never recorded, so the employee disputes the payslip;
• overtime counted twice, or not at all;
• a different hourly rate depending on which supervisor did the maths;
• no audit trail when someone edits hours after the fact.

A proper system handles three jobs: define (contract type, rate or rate basis, weekly hour limits, allowed shift window), measure (reliable punches from a phone, a terminal or a kiosk), and convert (an approved timesheet that flows into payroll). For the big-picture view of HR platforms, see our HR software guide.

Work patterns under Egypt's Labour Law 14/2025

Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 took effect on 1 September 2025, replacing Law 12/2003. According to Parlmany's analysis of Article 96, it recognises these patterns:

Article 97 matters most for employers. It applies the rules of traditional employment to these patterns, naming social protection, social insurance and the statutory minimum wage. Part-time staff keep the core rights. Some implementing ministerial rules for these patterns, including how flexible-work pay is calculated, had not been issued at the time of the source, so check the latest ministerial decisions before you finalise your policy.

Hour limits that still apply

As summarised in the EY alert and the official text:

• 8 hours a day or 48 a week of actual work, excluding breaks (Art. 117);
• breaks of at least 1 hour in total, and no more than 5 consecutive hours without one (Art. 118);
• maximum presence of 10 hours a day, or 12 for intermittent or special-nature work under Decisions 289 and 290 of 2025 (Art. 119);
• a paid weekly rest of at least 24 consecutive hours after no more than 6 working days (Art. 120).

Three ways to calculate an hourly rate

Neither country's law imposes a single formula for converting monthly pay into an hourly rate, so practice varies. What matters is consistency.

1. Agreed hourly rate. The contract states "X per hour"; pay = approved hours × rate. This is the cleanest option for temporary and part-time staff.
2. Monthly to hourly. Used for overtime and deductions on monthly-paid staff, or to benchmark a part-timer against a full-time peer: hourly rate = monthly wage ÷ salary-calculation days ÷ daily hours.
3. Daily to hourly. Some employers set a daily rate for casual workers and divide by shift length to handle short or long days.

Illustrative example (made-up round numbers)

Assume a monthly wage of EGP 9,000 and an 8-hour day. These are example figures, not market data.

In this example, the gap between the lowest and highest rate is more than 15%. That is why the basis belongs in your system settings, not in each supervisor's head.

Overtime for hourly staff

When does an hourly worker's extra hour become overtime? It depends on what the contract defines as normal hours. If you agree five hours a day with a part-timer, the sixth hour may be paid at the normal rate or at an overtime premium, depending on the contract and your regulations, as long as total hours stay within the legal limits.

Continuing the example: at EGP 37.50 an hour, an Egyptian daytime overtime hour is 37.50 × 1.35 ≈ EGP 50.63, and a night hour is 37.50 × 1.70 = EGP 63.75. The sources we reviewed do not define the exact night-hours window in Egypt, so set it in your regulations after taking legal advice. For night and overnight scheduling, read our shift scheduling guide.

Minimum wage, social insurance and Saudi flexible work

Egypt. The private-sector minimum wage set by the National Wages Council is EGP 7,000 a month (gross) from 1 March 2025, and the council now reviews it at least yearly (PM Decision 3165/2026). Article 97 extends minimum-wage and social-insurance rules to part-time work, but the method for pro-rating by hours depends on implementing decisions. Don't assume a pro-rata formula without checking them. Social insurance under Law 148/2019 runs at 11% (employee) and 18.75% (employer) of the insurable wage, which is bounded at EGP 2,700–16,700 in 2026. Confirm the insurable wage for hourly staff with NOSI.

Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's flexible-work regulation (Ministerial Decision 146481, later amended, with a procedural guide published in 2024) allows hourly-wage contracts for Saudi nationals, documented electronically through the portal the Ministry designates. Details such as GOSI counting thresholds change with updates, so check the Ministry's website before you contract. Regular contracts follow the Labor Law as published by MHRSD: 8 hours a day, 6 in Ramadan for Muslim workers, and overtime at the hourly wage plus 50% of basic. The King & Spalding summary covers the 2025 amendments.

Full-time vs hourly vs freelance

Calling a contract "freelance" does not change what it is if the person works under your direction and on your schedule. When in doubt, ask your lawyer.

Rollout checklist

1. Classify roles: which suit hourly or part-time work, and which need full-time staff.
2. Write the policy: rate basis, weekly minimum and maximum hours, when overtime starts, and who approves it.
3. Document the contract. In Egypt, contracts are written in Arabic in four copies and state the wage and payment method. See our employee contract guide.
4. Define the shift window: fixed, flexible with core hours, or a weekly schedule.
5. Pick reliable capture: phone with geofence and device check, a fingerprint terminal or a QR kiosk. See biometric attendance.
6. Review timesheets weekly, not at month-end.
7. Approve payroll, then lock the period.
8. Issue clear payslips showing normal hours, each overtime type, deductions and net pay.

How BashKatib helps with hourly employment

• Contract types on every profile. Open-ended, fixed-term, part-time, hourly and freelance, with effective-dated status and pay changes and full salary history (employee records).
• Trustworthy punches. Use the employee app with geofence plus phone fingerprint or Face ID and an optional selfie, a rotating-QR kiosk, ZKTeco push integration or an Excel/CSV import.
• Flexible shifts. Choose fixed, flexible with core hours, overnight or Ramadan schedules, and set weekends per day. A rotating weekly roster builder is coming soon.
• Configurable time policy. Set grace minutes, late tiers and the salary-calculation basis (26, 30, calendar or custom). Overtime defaults follow the country: Egypt +35% day, +70% night and double pay for rest days; Saudi Arabia +50%.
• Timesheets and a review queue. An employee × day grid, flagged punches and missing-punch correction requests all get resolved before payroll.
• Overtime to payroll. Approved overtime is calculated automatically and flows into payroll. The period locks once payroll is approved.
• A voice briefing for the owner. The AI voice briefing tells you in Egyptian, Gulf Arabic or English who is in, who is late and who hasn't checked in against their shift start. It is especially useful with fluid hourly teams.

Pricing runs from a Free plan for up to 5 employees (no payroll) to Starter at EGP 25 / SAR 8 per employee per month and Growth at EGP 45 / SAR 14. Growth includes payroll and the owner's daily voice briefing. Prices are billed annually, exclude VAT, require a 10-employee minimum and were current at the time of writing; see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Does Egypt's new labour law recognise part-time and hourly work?

Yes. Article 96 of Labour Law No. 14 of 2025 lists work patterns including part-time work, flexible work, remote work and work sharing. Article 97 applies the rules of traditional employment to them, including social protection, social insurance and the minimum wage.

How do I convert a monthly salary into an hourly rate?

The common method is monthly wage ÷ salary-calculation days (30, 26 or calendar days, per company policy) ÷ contracted daily hours. Pick one basis, write it into your internal regulations and apply it to everyone.

Are hourly employees entitled to overtime?

In Egypt overtime is paid at the hourly wage plus 35% for daytime and plus 70% for night work (Article 121). In Saudi Arabia it is the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic hourly wage (Article 107). The contract should define what counts as normal hours for an hourly worker.

Does the minimum wage apply to part-time staff in Egypt?

Article 97 extends minimum-wage rules to the new work patterns, but how it is pro-rated by hours depends on implementing ministerial decisions, not all of which had been issued when this guide was written. Check the latest decisions or ask counsel.

What is flexible work in Saudi Arabia?

It is a Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development regulation that allows establishments to hire Saudi nationals on an hourly-wage basis, with the contract documented electronically through the portal the Ministry specifies. Check the official procedural guide for current conditions.

Can BashKatib handle hourly and part-time employees?

Yes. You set the contract type (hourly, part-time, freelance, fixed or open-ended) on the employee profile, capture punches from the phone, a kiosk or a ZKTeco terminal, review worked hours in a timesheet and send approved hours and overtime to payroll.

Run your hourly workforce with confidence

Hourly work gives you cost and scheduling flexibility, but it demands more precision than full-time employment, because every minute becomes pay. Start a free 14-day trial of BashKatib Pro, which you can extend to 30 days to run a parallel payroll. You can also book a demo and we'll help you configure hourly rates and overtime for your operation. To see how hours become net pay after tax and social insurance, continue with our payroll software guide.