Dear Editor,

As a person relatively new in the working environment I will appreciate if you can kindly assist me by providing some labour laws governing overtime and work duration with respect to the following questions:

1. Is it compulsory to work overtime?

2. If you work from 9 – 5:30 pm and then 5:30 pm to 9/9:15 pm, is it mandatory to have a snack time?

3. Is it compulsory for a snack to be provided by the firm for this period?

Yours faithfully,

Ralph Anderson

Editor’s note

We consulted the Labour department which advised as follows:

“There is no law that stipulates that overtime is compulsory. It has to do with the nature of the job, for example masonry – the mortar is prepared for a particular job and that job should be completed before the masons are free to go.

If the job description specifies the conditions of the job which states the job should be completed before closure of the day/shift, overtime is directly needed.

It is mandatory to have a snack time of not less than 15 minutes after an 8-hour job to regenerate the energy that was lost in the process. The company should provide a snack during any overtime period.”