Kuwait labour law - employee reviewing an employment contract with the Kuwait City skyline

Kuwait Labour Law 2026: Employee Rights, Leave, Gratuity & End-of-Service Award

Kuwait's private-sector workforce is overwhelmingly expatriate — official PACI figures show expats made up 96.4% of private-sector workers as of mid-2026. If you are one of them, your rights come from one law: Law No. 6 of 2010 on Labour in the Private Sector. This guide explains that law in plain language — working hours, leave, end-of-service award, notice periods, the KWD 75 minimum wage, and the big 2026 change: the new Kuwait Wage Payment System (KWPS) that now routes private-sector salaries through the banking system.

Note: this guide covers private-sector employees. Domestic workers fall under a separate law (Law No. 68 of 2015) and are not covered here.

The Law Behind Your Rights: Law No. 6 of 2010

Kuwait's private-sector labour law was published in Official Gazette Issue No. 963 on 21 February 2010 and remains the governing statute in 2026 — no amendment to the law itself was enacted in 2026. It sets the floor for every employment contract in the private sector: hours, overtime, leave, termination and end-of-service entitlements. Key 2026 developments sit alongside it rather than inside it — most notably the Central Bank of Kuwait's launch of the Kuwait Wage Payment System (KWPS) around late September 2026, a centralised platform that monitors private-sector salary payments in real time as part of Kuwait's drive off the FATF grey list.

Working Hours & Overtime: The 8/48 Rule

The law caps working hours at 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week. An employee cannot be made to work five consecutive hours without at least a one-hour break — and that break does not count as working time.

Overtime is only permitted in limited situations — preventing an accident, repairing damage, avoiding a loss, or coping with an unusual workload. Even then the limits are strict:

Maximum 2 hours of overtime per day
Maximum 180 overtime hours per year
No more than 3 days a week and 90 days a year
The employer must keep a special overtime register

Overtime pay rates

Work performed	Rate
Overtime on an ordinary working day	125% of normal remuneration
Work on the weekly rest day	150% pay plus a compensatory day off
Work on an official public holiday	Double pay plus a compensatory day off

Weekly Rest Day

Every worker is entitled to one paid 24-hour rest day after every 6 working days. The employer may call a worker in on the rest day if necessity arises — but must then pay the 150%-plus-day-off rate above. During Ramadan, private-sector hours are reduced to 36 hours a week (6 hours a day) as applied in practice, for all employees regardless of religion. Night work for women is prohibited between 10pm and 7am, except in hospitals, clinics and other specified establishments.

Annual Leave: 30 Days, But Read the Fine Print

You earn 30 days of paid annual leave per year. The catch many workers miss: in the first year you cannot actually take leave until you have completed 9 months of service — although leave accrues pro-rata from your first day. Official public holidays and sick-leave days that fall inside your annual leave do not count against it, and your leave pay must be paid before the leave starts.

The employer decides leave dates, but after the first 14 days the leave may be split with the worker's consent.
Carry-over: you may accumulate leave up to two years' worth. Anything beyond two years needs mutual agreement.
When the contract ends, you get a cash payment for all accumulated unused leave — no matter how much has built up.
You cannot waive your leave for compensation, and if you work for another employer during your leave, the employer can reclaim the leave pay.

Sick Leave: A Generous Tiered System

Kuwait's sick-leave entitlement is one of the most generous in the Gulf — a tiered system of 85 days per year:

Sick-leave tier (per year)	Pay
First 15 days	Full pay
Next 10 days	75% pay
Next 10 days	50% pay
Next 10 days	25% pay
Final 30 days	Unpaid

Sick leave needs a medical report from the employer-appointed doctor or a government medical centre — in disputes, the government doctor's report prevails.

Maternity Leave: 70 Days Fully Paid

A female employee gets 70 days of fully paid maternity leave (the birth must occur within that period), with no minimum service period required — even a new joiner qualifies. It is not deducted from any other leave. On request she can also take 4 months of unpaid childcare leave, plus a 2-hour daily breastfeeding break. Employers with 50 or more female workers (or 200+ workers in total) must provide a nursery. Termination during maternity or pregnancy-sickness leave is prohibited. There is no statutory paternity leave in Kuwaiti law.

End-of-Service Indemnity: How the Kuwait Award Is Calculated

The end-of-service award is the payout that matters most at the end of a Kuwait career. For monthly-paid workers:

15 days' wage for each year of the first 5 years of service, then
one full month's wage for each year after that,
capped at a total of 18 months' remuneration.

Warning: many online summaries wrongly state the cap as "two years' salary". The statute itself caps the award at one-and-a-half years' remuneration — 18 months. Indemnity accrues pro-rata for part-years, and it is calculated on the last basic salary (allowances excluded). In practice the daily wage is derived by dividing the monthly salary by 26 working days.

Worked example: a monthly-paid employee with 8 years of service and a final basic salary of KWD 500. Years 1–5 earn 15 days each = 75 days = 2.5 months (75 ÷ 30) ≈ KWD 1,250. Years 6–8 earn 1 month each = 3 months = KWD 1,500. Total award: KWD 2,750 — well under the 18-month cap of KWD 9,000.

Resignation vs termination: who gets how much

How the contract ends	Indemnity paid
Employer terminates (any reason)	100% — regardless of years served
Fixed-term contract expires without renewal	100%
Woman resigns within a year of marriage	100%
Worker resigns, 3–5 years of service	50%
Worker resigns, 5–10 years of service	Two-thirds
Worker resigns, 10+ years of service	100%

Note the resignation tiers above apply to unlimited-term contracts. The Public Authority of Manpower re-confirmed these indemnity rules in an August 2026 advisory.

Notice Period: 3 Months for Monthly-Paid Workers

Contract / pay type	Written notice required
Indefinite-term contract, monthly-paid worker	3 months
Indefinite-term contract, other pay types	1 month

The party that skips notice must pay compensation equal to the notice-period salary.
During an employer-issued notice period, the worker may take 1 day, or 8 hours a week, paid, to search for a new job.
The notice period counts as service; the employer may exempt the worker from working during it while still paying full salary.
Termination is prohibited while a worker is on a statutory leave, and termination without justification — or for union activity, gender, race or religion — is banned.
Fixed-term contracts run 1 to 5 years; an employer who ends one early without justification pays compensation up to the wages for the remaining contract period.
A worker may quit without notice if the employer breaches the contract or the law. Being absent 7 consecutive days (or 20 separate days a year) without excuse is treated as a resignation.

Public Holidays & Hajj Leave

The statute lists 12 paid public holidays: Hijri New Year (1 day), Isra & Miraj (1 day), Eid Al-Fitr (3 days), Waqfat Arafat (1 day), Eid Al-Adha (3 days), the Prophet's Birthday (1 day), National Day (1 day), and Gregorian New Year (1 day). (National Liberation Day on 26 February is observed in practice by ministerial decision.) Work on a holiday earns double pay plus a compensatory day off.

After 2 continuous years with the same employer, a worker gets 21 paid days to perform Hajj — but only if he has not performed Hajj before.

Minimum Wage: KWD 75 a Month

Kuwait has a statutory private-sector minimum wage of KWD 75 per month (roughly USD 245) — applying to Kuwaitis and expatriates alike. It has stood unchanged for years. By comparison, our guide to the UAE minimum wage rules explains why the Emirates have no general minimum for expats at all.

2026's Big Change: The Kuwait Wage Payment System (KWPS)

The headline 2026 development is not an amendment to the labour law but a new enforcement machine. Around late September 2026, the Central Bank of Kuwait launched the Kuwait Wage Payment System (KWPS): a centralised platform that routes all private-sector salaries through local banks, with real-time regulatory monitoring. The Public Authority of Manpower polices employer compliance. Kuwait's own Wage Protection System — in place since 2021, in the style of the UAE and Qatar systems — fed into this centralised version, which is explicitly tied to Kuwait's campaign to exit the FATF grey list.

The legal base was already there: Article 57 of Law No. 6 of 2010 has long required employers with 5 or more workers to transfer wages directly into employees' bank accounts. KWPS turns that obligation into a monitored, system-wide process.

Probation: Max 100 Working Days

The probation period must be written into the contract, may last at most 100 working days, can be imposed only once per employer, and either side may end the relationship without notice during it. If the employer terminates during probation, he must still pay the end-of-service indemnity for the period served.

Sources & Legal Basis

Facts in this guide come from the text of Law No. 6 of 2010 (cross-checked across two independent English translations of the official gazette text), Public Authority of Manpower advisories as reported in 2026, Central Bank of Kuwait announcements on the KWPS launch (Sept 2026), and legal explainers from Mondaq, Arab Times legal Q&A columns and Gulf News. This is general information, not legal advice — for a dispute, consult a Kuwaiti employment lawyer.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much is the Kuwait end-of-service award?

For monthly-paid workers: 15 days' wage per year for the first 5 years, then one month's wage per year after, capped at 18 months' remuneration. Based on the last basic salary, allowances excluded.

2. Do I get my full end-of-service award if I resign in Kuwait?

Not always. On an unlimited-term contract: 3–5 years' service gets you 50%, 5–10 years gets two-thirds, and 10+ years gets 100%. If the employer terminates you, or a fixed-term contract simply expires, you get 100% regardless of service length.

3. How many annual leave days do I get in Kuwait?

30 paid days a year. You can't take them in the first year until you've completed 9 months of service, and you can carry up to two years' worth forward. All unused leave is cashed out when the contract ends.

4. What is the notice period in Kuwait for resignation?

For indefinite-term contracts: 3 months' written notice if you are paid monthly, 1 month for other pay types. Skipping notice means paying compensation equal to the notice-period salary.

5. What is the minimum wage in Kuwait in 2026?

KWD 75 per month for private-sector workers, Kuwaiti and expatriate alike — unchanged for years.

6. How long is maternity leave in Kuwait?

70 days fully paid, with no minimum service requirement, plus optional 4 months of unpaid childcare leave and a 2-hour daily breastfeeding break.

7. Can my employer work me more than 8 hours a day in Kuwait?

Only as overtime, and only in limited situations (accidents, repairs, avoiding loss, unusual workload) — capped at 2 hours a day and 180 hours a year, paid at 125% of normal pay.

8. What is the KWPS in Kuwait?

The Kuwait Wage Payment System, launched around late September 2026: a Central Bank-run platform routing all private-sector salaries through local banks with real-time monitoring of employer compliance.

9. Do I lose my unused annual leave when I leave my job in Kuwait?

No. On contract end the employer must pay cash for all accumulated unused leave — there is no use-it-or-lose-it beyond the two-year accumulation limit.

10. How long is the probation period in Kuwait?

At most 100 working days, only once per employer, and either party can end the contract without notice during it.

Related Guides

Bottom line: Kuwait's Law No. 6 of 2010 gives private-sector workers 30 days of annual leave, a tiered 85-day sick-leave system, 70 days of paid maternity leave, and an end-of-service award worth up to 18 months' pay — with a resignation ladder that rewards long service. And with the KWPS now monitoring salaries in real time, 2026 is the year Kuwait's wage rules finally have teeth. Know these numbers before you sign, and especially before you resign.

Kuwait Labour Law 2026: Employee Rights, Leave, Gratuity & End-of-Service