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Working hours and overtime in Costa Rica: the limits and the calculation

Three ordinary shifts, each with its own ceiling. A twelve-hour daily cap that cannot be negotiated away. And a mixed shift that turns into a night shift without anyone noticing.

7 min readTicuenta
The three ordinary shifts: day, from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., of 8 hours a day and 48 a week; night, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., of 6 and 36; and mixed, taking from both, of 7 hours and 42 a week.

The shifts and their ceilings

ShiftHours of the dayPer dayPer week
Day5 a.m. – 7 p.m.8 h48 h
Day, accumulatedWork that is neither hazardous nor unhealthyup to 10 h48 h
Night7 p.m. – 5 a.m.6 h36 h
MixedPart daytime, part night7 h42 h
Mixed, specialWork that is neither hazardous nor unhealthyup to 8 h48 h
People aged 15 to 18—6 h36 h
The mixed shift that becomes a night shift without anyone noticing. If a mixed shift runs to 10:30 p.m. or later, it stops being mixed: it becomes a night shift, of 6 hours a day and 36 a week. A shift ending at 10:45 p.m. is not a long mixed shift — it is a night shift with extra hours in it.

The accumulated shift is the one where the sixth day's hours, usually Saturday's, are spread across the previous five. With a consequence people forget: for all legal purposes Saturday is still a working day, which is why it counts when granting holiday. An accumulated night shift is not allowed.

Hours and schedule are not the same thing

The shift is how many hours are worked. The schedule is the window they are distributed across. The practical difference: the shift cannot be lengthened without the employee's consent; the schedule can be changed by the employer, even against their wishes, as long as it does not cause them serious harm.

Breaks

  • Half an hour within the shift

    The compulsory minimum to eat, whenever the shift is continuous. It can be longer, and it is still paid.

  • Over an hour and the treatment changes

    The employee may leave freely, the shift becomes discontinuous, and the employer is not obliged to pay that break unless they accept it or it was agreed.

  • A full day each week

    24 hours of absolute rest after each week or each six continuous days. It is paid in retail, or where it has been agreed — which is the norm with fortnightly or monthly pay.

Working the rest day is paid double. And it is independent of the weekly hours: even if the 48 have not been reached, working the rest day means that day is paid double.

Overtime

It is time worked beyond the ordinary shift, or beyond a shorter shift that was agreed. It is paid at time and a half: the ordinary hour plus 50 %.
The case · six overtime hours in a week
Monthly salary
₡600,000
Daily pay: ₡600,000 ÷ 30
₡20,000
Ordinary hour: ₡20,000 ÷ 8
₡2,500
Overtime hour: ₡2,500 × 1.5
₡3,750
Six overtime hours
₡22,500
On a public holiday, overtime is double the overtime. On a public holiday that is worked, the ordinary hours are already paid double, so the overtime hour is calculated on that doubled hour. With the example above, the doubled hour is ₡5,000 and the holiday overtime hour ₡7,500 — three times the ordinary hour. Which days are public holidays.

The twelve-hour cap

Ordinary hours plus overtime cannot exceed twelve hours a day. It is not negotiable: neither the employee's consent nor a written agreement gets around it.

On a normal 8-hour day shift that leaves a maximum of 4 overtime hours a day. On a 6-hour night shift the margin is 6. And it is a limit per day, not a weekly average.

Positions outside the ordinary shifts

Some roles are excluded from the ordinary shifts: managers, administrators and attorneys-in-fact, people who work without immediate supervision, positions of trust, commission agents who do not work on the premises, and people whose duties are discontinuous or consist of mere presence.

But “no fixed shift” does not mean no limit. Those people cannot be required to stay more than twelve hours a day at the workplace, and within that they are entitled to a minimum break of one and a half hours. Giving someone the title of “coordinator” does not erase the limit.

What this means on the payroll

Overtime is pay: it goes into gross, carries social security and income tax withholding, and counts towards the Christmas bonus and towards the average used to calculate a settlement. Recording it “off the books” saves nothing: it removes the support for the expense and leaves the salary misdeclared to the social security fund.

From Ticuenta

The month's gross, with the extras inside it

The payroll entry comes from the social security figures, with the provisions calculated on the full gross.

See how it works

About this article. The shifts, the breaks, the overtime rate and the twelve-hour cap are in the Labour Code and are set out in the Ministry of Labour's working hours booklet. This is not employment law advice: the Ministry answers queries on 800 TRABAJO.

Verified as of 24 September 2026. Rules change. This is information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources: Labour Code Ministry of Labour

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