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Colombia Overtime Rules: The 42-Hour Week, the 25% and 75% Premiums, and the Overtime Record (2026)

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Colombia Overtime Rules: The 42-Hour Week, the 25% and 75% Premiums, and the Overtime Record (2026)

The short answer: Colombia's ordinary working week is 42 hours, in force since 15 July 2026 under Ley 2101 of 2021. Hours past the ordinary schedule are overtime: a 25% premium by day and 75% at night. Ordinary work at night pays a 35% surcharge, and since 25 December 2025 night starts at 7 p.m., not 9 p.m. Work on the weekly rest day or a public holiday pays a 90% surcharge today and 100% from 1 July 2027. Overtime may not pass 2 hours a day or 12 a week. You no longer need a Ministry of Labour permit to work it, but you do have to keep an overtime record for every worker and hand it over when asked. Punch builds that record one punch at a time.

Our guides to Mexico's road to a 40-hour week and Brazil's 44-hour week cover reforms still on their way. Colombia's has already landed. Two laws changed the working week in the space of twelve months, and both are fully in force for the first time this year. Here is how they work for a small crew.

The 42-Hour Week

Ley 2101 of 2021 cut the ordinary week from 48 hours to 42 in steps: 47 in July 2023, 46 in July 2024, 44 in July 2025, and 42 from 15 July 2026. Pay did not go down with the hours. The law is explicit that the shorter week does not reduce salary.

Article 161 of the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, as rewritten by Ley 2466 of 2025, now reads: a maximum ordinary day of 8 hours, and a maximum week of 42 hours, spread by agreement over five or six days, always with a rest day.

One exception matters to almost every small employer. Employer and worker may agree to flexible daily hours: the 42 hours spread unevenly across up to six days, with a minimum of 4 continuous hours and a maximum of 9 hours a day, with no overtime premium, as long as the week does not exceed 42. A crew that works four 9-hour days and one 6-hour day has worked no overtime at all.

The practical effect is a higher hourly value. Payroll in Colombia divides the monthly salary by the ordinary hours in the month. With a 42-hour week the divisor is 210, down from 220. The 2026 minimum wage is COP 1,750,905 a month, plus a COP 249,095 transport allowance. At 210 hours, an ordinary hour at minimum wage is worth about COP 8,338.

The 25% and 75% Premiums

Article 168 of the Código sets three rates, each a premium on top of the ordinary daytime hour:

  • Daytime overtime: 25%. An hour worked past the ordinary schedule between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. pays 1.25x.
  • Night overtime: 75%. An overtime hour between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. pays 1.75x.
  • Night work: 35%. An ordinary hour that simply falls at night, with no overtime involved, pays 1.35x.

At minimum wage, that is about COP 10,422 for a daytime overtime hour and about COP 14,591 for one at night.

Night Now Starts at 7 p.m.

For years, night work in Colombia began at 9 p.m. Article 10 of Ley 2466 moved the line. Daytime work is now the period from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and night work runs from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. The change took effect six months after the law was signed, on 25 December 2025.

Two more hours of every evening now carry a surcharge. A cafe that closes at 9 p.m. owed no night pay last year. This year it owes the 35% surcharge on the last two hours of every closing shift, and 75% if those hours are overtime. Which rate applies depends on one fact: the exact time each person stopped working.

Rest Days and Holidays: 90% Now, 100% in July 2027

Article 14 of Ley 2466 raised the surcharge for work on the weekly rest day or a public holiday from 75% to 100% of ordinary pay for the hours worked. Employers may phase it in:

  • 80% from 1 July 2025
  • 90% from 1 July 2026
  • 100% from 1 July 2027

So the rate today is 90%, and it rises once more next July. An employer may also apply the full 100% early.

The rest day is Sunday unless the contract says otherwise. Since the reform, the parties may agree in writing on a different day, and every reference in the Código to "dominical" now means that agreed rest day. The surcharges stack: an overtime hour on a rest day earns the rest-day surcharge and the overtime premium together.

The Limit: 2 Hours a Day, 12 a Week

Article 13 of Ley 2466 keeps the cap where it was: overtime, by day or by night, may never exceed 2 hours a day and 12 hours a week. The only exceptions are the private security sector and the health sector, which follow their own rules.

The law also bars an employer from contracting the same worker for two shifts in one day, even with the worker's consent, except in supervisory, management and trust roles.

The Overtime Record: No Permit, but a Register

Before the reform, an employer needed authorization from the Ministry of Labour to work overtime. Article 12 of Ley 2466 removed that step. No permit is required. What replaced it is a record, and the duty falls on every employer.

Under the rewritten article 162 of the Código, the employer must:

  • Keep a register of overtime for each worker, stating the worker's name, the activity carried out, and the number of hours worked, specifying whether they were by day or at night.
  • Give the worker a statement of their overtime on request, with the same detail, together with proof of payment.
  • Produce the register to the courts and the labour authorities when required. An employer who does not can be sanctioned by the labour authority.

There is a second penalty. Where an employer is shown not to have paid overtime, the Ministry may suspend that employer's ability to authorize overtime for six months, on top of any other sanction.

The register may be kept in whatever way suits the business. It still has to answer three questions for every overtime hour: who worked it, on what, and was it before or after 7 p.m. A weekly total cannot answer the third.

How Punch Handles Colombian Working Time

Punch is built for the record every rule above depends on.

A Colombia preset, in pesos. Choose Colombia at signup and Punch applies its Código Sustantivo del Trabajo preset: hours past 42 in a week at 1.25x, in COP. The preset is weekly on purpose, because a flexible schedule allows 9-hour days with no premium. The 75% night premium depends on the time of day, so apply it by hand or set your own thresholds and rates under Custom in Org Settings. The preset's footer says the same.

Exact start and end times. Your team punches in, punches out for lunch, and punches out at the end of the day from their phone. Every shift carries its start and end to the minute, so the hours before and after 7 p.m. are on the record, not in anyone's memory. Every later change a manager makes is kept beside the original punch.

Hours by person, week and job site. Each punch belongs to a named worker and a job site. Reports roll up per person, so the hours past 42, and the running count against 2 a day and 12 a week, are a glance.

In Spanish. Punch runs in Spanish on the phone and on the web, so the person punching in reads the same words as the person approving the hours. Our guide to bilingual time tracking for Spanish-speaking crews covers why that matters.

A job-site geofence, not a camera. Punch-in can be limited to a geofence around the site. There is no photo at punch and no facial recognition.

Approvals before payroll. Managers approve hours one by one or bulk approve a whole pay period, then export the report as a spreadsheet for your accountant or payroll provider. That export is the statement a worker or an inspector can ask for.

No signal, no gap. Punches made on a rural site or in a basement sync when the phone reconnects. A shared iPad in kiosk mode, with a PIN for each worker, covers a kitchen door or a workshop gate.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many hours is the working week in Colombia?

42 hours, since 15 July 2026. It was 48 until July 2023 and came down in four steps under Ley 2101 of 2021. Salaries were not reduced.

What is the overtime rate in Colombia?

A 25% premium for daytime overtime and a 75% premium for night overtime, both calculated on the ordinary daytime hour.

When does night work start?

At 7 p.m. Since 25 December 2025, night work runs from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. and pays a 35% surcharge on ordinary hours.

What is the Sunday and holiday surcharge?

90% since 1 July 2026, rising to 100% on 1 July 2027. It applies to the agreed weekly rest day, which is Sunday unless the contract names another day.

How much overtime is allowed?

No more than 2 hours a day and 12 hours a week, by day or by night. The security and health sectors have their own rules.

Do I need Ministry of Labour permission for overtime?

No. Ley 2466 of 2025 removed the permit. You do have to keep an overtime register for each worker, give the worker a statement on request, and produce it to the authorities when asked.

Keep a Colombian Record That Holds Up

Colombian working time now turns on a handful of lines: 42 hours a week, 7 p.m., 2 hours a day, 12 a week, 25%, 35%, 75%, and 90% on the rest day. Every one of them is measured against the hours your crew actually worked, and the law asks you to show those hours on request.

Punch records every punch in, punch out and lunch, applies the Colombia preset or your own rates, rolls up the week, and exports approved hours for payroll. Pricing is flat per workspace, with no per-user line item, and every plan includes every feature. The 14-day free trial starts on signup, no credit card required.

Start tracking Colombian hours correctly with Punch →

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