Big tasks, more customers or changes in the company can be some of the reasons why you have to run extra fast for a period of time. And for many, being busy often means overtime, but what are the rules on overtime and time off in lieu?
Whether you're a carpenter, consultant or farmer, the vast majority of us have to say yes to overtime from time to time. But for many people - both employees and employers - it can be difficult to understand what the rules actually say when it comes to overtime and time off in lieu. We will now try to make that clearer.
The prospect of overtime may not exactly be a cause for celebration, but employees are not actually allowed to refuse to work overtime. The rules state that there are only two reasons that carry enough weight to say no.
Firstly, an employee can legitimately refuse overtime if emergency overtime means they cannot find childcare for young children.
Employees are also allowed to say no if the overtime means breaking legal regulations.
While there is no general legislation specifically on overtime, there are a number of rules on working hours;
The 48-hour rule
The Working Time Directive sets a limit of 48 hours of work per week when measured as a weekly average over a four-month period. This means that in some weeks you can work more than 48 hours as long as you work correspondingly less in other weeks. The 48 hours set as an upper limit in the legislation includes overtime. However, with OK17, other restrictions have been introduced for a number of professional groups and industries, as “systematic overtime” has become part of some collective agreements. This means that professional groups with these agreements can work a maximum of 42 hours per week and cannot work more than one hour overtime per day. Read more about the 48 hour rule here.
Daily rest period
The daily rest period is also known as the 11-hour rule. The 11-hour rule is set out in the Working Environment Act and states that an employee is generally entitled to 11 hours off during a 24-hour period.
Certain conditions must be met in order to reduce the rest period. However, it must not fall below 8 hours. Read more about the 11-hour rule Here.
Weekly day off
According to the Danish Working Environment Act, an employee is also entitled to a day off for every seven-day period. It also states that the day off must be linked to a daily rest period.
Break after 6 hours
Employees are entitled to a break if the working day is longer than six hours. However, the legislation does not specify how long the break should be, but that there must be enough time for the employee to eat and drink. This applies to employees who do not have a collective labour agreement. For employees with a collective agreement, the collective agreement often contains detailed rules for working hours and the length and number of breaks.
How much notice do I need to give for overtime?
There is often confusion about how much notice an employee needs to give for overtime work. And it's also very vague. It depends on the individual collective labour agreement.
The collective labour agreement will often state exactly how much notice an employee must be given about future overtime, which varies greatly from collective agreement to collective agreement. Some collective agreements entitle the employee to several weeks' notice, while in others it's just a few days.
In addition, the collective agreements also state whether the employee should receive an extra allowance if the notice limit is not met.
If you are not covered by a collective labour agreement, your employment contract or an employee handbook should state how long before overtime must be notified.
It is often recommended by trade unions that employees create a timesheet that is regularly approved by their employer. This helps provide an overview of how many hours you have worked each day and prevents discrepancies over the number of overtime hours.
But paper slips can get lost, accidentally get thrown in the rubbish bin or spilled with coffee. That's why many companies benefit from using Intempus to keep track of how many hours have been worked and when. Intempus can record overtime hours and then find out how much time off in lieu the employee is owed or how much overtime pay is due.
Do you have to pay extra for overtime?
Whether or not you are entitled to overtime pay depends on your individual collective agreement or local agreement.
Those employed on a so-called function pay or job pay are not entitled to overtime pay because it is part of their fixed salary - this often applies to managers.
However, if you are employed on a fixed number of hours, this means that you can generally claim one hour of time off in lieu for every hour of overtime. In some places, it is also possible to be paid at your usual hourly rate for the extra hours. Whether overtime hours are paid or time off in lieu depends on what has been agreed between the employee and employer or the collective agreement. Many collective agreements entitle the employee to 50 % overtime pay for the first three hours of overtime and 100 % for additional hours of overtime.
At Intempus, we have the ability to keep track of the administration based on local agreements and collective agreements. This means that the employee and the office only need to report the start and end time of the work, and Intempus will automatically calculate how much of it is overtime and what overtime allowance or time off in lieu should be given.
Although the collective agreements are very different, Intempus can accommodate the differences.
When can you take time off for overtime?
As the long working days come to an end and the hustle and bustle retreats, for many it will be time for time off in lieu if no overtime pay has been paid.
However, there aren't many general provisions for time off in lieu. For the most part, it's - like many other things about overtime and time off in lieu - a matter of what's in the collective agreement.
It is the employer who decides when the employee should take time off in lieu. However, the employer must make sure to give the employee the notice stipulated in the collective agreement.
This means that for most collective agreements, there are requirements regarding how late an employee can be notified about taking time off in lieu. Therefore, it's important that both employee and employer are aware of the terms of the collective agreement.
But where do your time off in lieu come from and how many are you actually owed? It can be difficult to get an overview and create a transparent system yourself.
Easily keep track of employees' overtime and time off in lieu
By using Intempus, you can spend your energy on another of your organisation's many tasks. Intempus can record the number of normal hours for each employee. If the employee's time registration exceeds this, Intempus automatically registers it. This means that you can always see each employee's current time off in lieu balance - and it can also be set up according to the collective agreement, as we have previously discussed.
’Collective agreement’ is the key word if you as an employer or employee want to be 100 % sure that you understand the rules for overtime and time off in lieu that affect your own working life.
Curious if Intempus can meet your organisation's needs for easier administration? Then you can try designing your own time tracking solution here:
You are also welcome to give us a call at: +45 26390400
