State Companies Must Limit Overtime Pay to Work Beyond 48 Hours

The Privatisation and Corporatisation Board (PCB) has ordered all state-owned enterprises and their subsidiaries to standardize their overtime payment policies to curb unnecessary spending and improve financial management. Under the new directive, companies must revise their internal rules to ensure overtime payments are only granted to employees who work more than 48 hours per week. This move is part of a broader strategic effort to create uniformity across the government's corporate sector and strengthen overall financial systems. For companies that already have overtime caps in place, the PCB has instructed management to compare existing rules against the new 48-hour threshold. These organizations are required to adopt whichever option proves to be the most financially efficient for the company. The PCB expects these changes to facilitate better workload planning and a more equitable distribution of tasks among staff. By eliminating excessive overtime payments, the board aims to reduce operational costs and increase the sustainability of state-owned entities. Companies have been given a deadline of July 30 to finalize these policy revisions, with the new regulations set to take effect on August 1. This directive follows a previous mandate from the PCB requiring state-owned companies to reduce their total staff headcount by 33 percent within a three-month window. Together, these measures highlight a rigorous push by the government to enhance efficiency and drive profitability across the public corporate landscape.