Your shop closes at 22:00, your oven starts at 04:00, your guard takes his post at 20:00. Nobody on the team ever uses the phrase “night work”, and yet. The Labour Code defines night by a precise time window and attaches a price to the overtime hours that fall inside it, whether or not you call it night work. This is not a question of vocabulary: the clock decides, and it decides entirely on its own.
The essentials in five points
- Night is a window, not an impression: 21:00 to 06:00 in non-agricultural activities, 20:00 to 05:00 in agriculture (article 172).
- The premium attaches to the overtime hour, not to the night itself: this is the distinction almost everybody misses.
- An overtime hour worked at night carries 50 percent, against 25 percent between 06:00 and 21:00 (article 201).
- The weekly rest day doubles the stakes: 50 percent by day and 100 percent by night, even where compensatory rest is granted.
- Between two night shifts, women and minors are entitled to 11 consecutive hours of rest, reducible to 10 hours in the article 173 cases.
1. What the law calls night
Article 172 leaves no room for interpretation: in non-agricultural activities, night work is any work performed between 21:00 and 06:00. In agricultural activities the window is shifted, running from 20:00 to 05:00. An hour worked inside that range is a night hour, whatever the trade, however long the shift, and whether or not the employee is used to that schedule.
| Situation | Night hours | Applicable window |
|---|---|---|
| Shop open until 22:00 | One hour, 21:00 to 22:00 | Non-agricultural: 21:00 – 06:00 |
| Bakery starting at 04:00 | Two hours, 04:00 to 06:00 | Non-agricultural: 21:00 – 06:00 |
| Guard on duty 20:00 to 06:00 | Nine hours, 21:00 to 06:00 | Non-agricultural: 21:00 – 06:00 |
| Café closing at 20:30 | None | Non-agricultural: 21:00 – 06:00 |
| Farm starting at 04:30 | Half an hour, 04:30 to 05:00 | Agricultural: 20:00 – 05:00 |
Keep the last row in mind: the same working hour, at 04:30, is a night hour on a farm and a night hour in a shop as well — but at 05:30 it is still night in the shop and no longer night on the farm. The window follows the activity, not the person.
2. The premium is on the overtime hour, not on the night
This is where the commonest error happens. Normal working time is set by article 184 at 2,288 hours a year or 44 hours a week in non-agricultural activities. As long as you stay inside that, having someone work at night is a scheduling question. The premium in article 201 is triggered only on overtime hours, meaning those beyond normal working time — and its rate then depends on the hour at which they were worked.
| Overtime hour worked | Ordinary day | Weekly rest day |
|---|---|---|
| Between 06:00 and 21:00 | + 25% | + 50% |
| Between 21:00 and 06:00 | + 50% | + 100% |
The right-hand column deserves a careful read. Article 201 states that these higher weekly-rest-day rates apply even where compensatory rest is granted to the employee. Replacement rest therefore does not replace the premium: you owe both.
In practice, an overtime hour worked on a Sunday at 23:00 is paid at double its normal value. The same hour, worked on a Tuesday at 15:00, carries a quarter. Same employee, same work, and a one-to-four ratio between the two premiums.
3. Build the schedule before counting the hours
Once the rule is understood, the schedule becomes a cost-control tool rather than a simple attendance grid. The point is not to avoid nights — your business requires them — but to stop the night and the overtime hour from landing in the same place.
- Write down the real timing of each shift, start hour and end hour, before reasoning in weekly volume.
- Identify in each shift the part falling between 21:00 and 06:00: that part is what will cost 50 percent if it becomes overtime.
- Check the weekly total against the 44 hours of article 184, employee by employee rather than for the whole team.
- If someone is nearing the ceiling mid-week, move the end of their week towards daytime hours rather than towards the night.
- Treat the weekly rest day as a case of its own: an overtime hour there costs twice what a weekday hour costs.
- Keep a record of the hours actually worked, not only the hours planned, because that is the first thing you will be asked for.
The fifth point weighs the most on a small operation. Calling someone in for “just two hours” on their rest day, at night, amounts to paying four hours. The answer is almost never to argue about the rate: it is to move those two hours somewhere else in the week.
Without written hours, you cannot defend the calculation
The applicable rate depends on the exact hour at which an overtime hour was worked: 25 or 50 percent, and 50 or 100 percent on the rest day. If all you keep is a monthly total of hours, you have no way to show that an hour was worked at 20:00 rather than at 22:00. In a disagreement, the version that costs you most has every chance of prevailing, for want of anything to the contrary. Note the start and the end of every shift, day by day, from the first week onwards.
4. The rest required between two night shifts
Article 174 sets a rest guarantee aimed at two precise categories: women and minors. Between two night shifts, they must get a rest of at least 11 consecutive hours, and that rest must include the night period. It is not an average to reach across the week, it is an interval to respect between each shift and the next.
- The rest is at least 11 consecutive hours between two night shifts.
- It must include the night period as defined by article 172.
- It may be reduced to 10 hours in the establishments covered by article 173.
- Article 173 covers continuous activities, seasonal activities and work carried out on perishable materials.
- Outside those cases, the reduction to 10 hours does not apply.
That constraint has a direct effect on the schedule: in practice it rules out chaining a late close and an early open for the employees concerned. If your shop closes at 23:00 and reopens at 08:00, the interval is nine hours and it is not enough.
Mistakes to avoid
- Believing that every night hour carries a premium, when the premium only ever concerns overtime hours.
- Applying 25 percent to an overtime hour worked after 21:00, instead of the 50 percent set by article 201.
- Forgetting that the weekly rest day raises the rates to 50 and 100 percent.
- Thinking that compensatory rest excuses you from the weekly rest day premium.
- Using the 21:00 to 06:00 window in an agricultural activity, where it starts at 20:00.
- Chaining a late close and an early open without checking the 11 hours of article 174.
Frequently asked questions
Which hours actually count as night work under Moroccan law?
In non-agricultural activities, any work performed between 21:00 and 06:00, under article 172 of the Labour Code. In agricultural activities the window runs from 20:00 to 05:00. What counts is the actual timing, not the job title.
Does every night hour carry a premium?
No, and that is the most widespread confusion. The premium in article 201 applies to overtime hours, those beyond normal working time of 2,288 hours a year or 44 hours a week. A night hour that sits inside normal working time is a scheduling matter, not a premium matter.
What is an overtime hour worked at night worth?
It carries 50 percent when worked between 21:00 and 06:00, against 25 percent between 06:00 and 21:00. On the weekly rest day those rates become 100 and 50 percent respectively, even where compensatory rest is granted.
What rest is required between two night shifts?
Article 174 requires women and minors to get at least 11 consecutive hours of rest between two night shifts, including the night period. That rest may be brought down to 10 hours in the establishments covered by article 173, meaning continuous or seasonal activities and work on perishable materials.
Can BelloPOS help me track these hours?
Indirectly. BelloPOS is not a time clock and files nothing with anyone, but its activity log, from Go upwards, timestamps till operations and shows who was on the till and at what hour. That is a useful cross-check; the hours record itself is still yours to keep.
What to take away
Start by writing down the real hours of each shift, then mark the part falling between 21:00 and 06:00. Then compare the weekly total against the 44 hours: while you are below, night is a scheduling subject; above it, night becomes a payroll subject, at 50 percent on a weekday and 100 percent on the rest day. And if your team includes women or minors on night shifts, check the 11-hour interval before you freeze the schedule, not after.
Sources
The figures and rules quoted above come from these pages, read on the date given in the article.
Know who was on the till, and at what hour
BelloPOS runs offline and timestamps till operations: from Go upwards, the activity log tells you who took the money and when, which helps you cross-check your own record of hours.
Read next
Other practical guides on the same subject: