Are you extra busy in your business? Get the overview of the rules for overtime and time off in lieu

Big projects, more customers or changes in the business can be some of the reasons that you have to run extra fast for a period of time. And for many, working overtime can be directly linked to being busy. But what does the rule for overtime and time off in lieu actually tell us? 

Whether you are a carpenter, consultant or an agriculturalist, most of us have to say yes to working overtime. But for many, both employers and employees, it can be difficult to navigate what the rules actually say when talking about overtime and time off in lieu. We will try to make it more clear. 

Maybe the view for overtime does not exactly bring cheering in the employee but actually you are not allowed to deny working overtime as an employee. The rules say that there are only two reasons that make it ok to say no. 

First of all an employee can say no to working overtime if emergent overtime makes it impossible for the individual to find care for minor children. Besides this you are able to deny overtime if these hours means that concrete regulations are transgressed. 

Even though there is no general regulation specifically around overtime, there are a number of rules about working hours: 

The 48-hour rule

In the work directive there is a fixed limit of 48 hours of work weekly when it is measured on an average amount weekly in a period of 4 months. This means that you are allowed to work more than 48 hours as long as you work less in the other weeks. The 48 hours that is determined as a maximum limit in the regulation is including overtime. With the OK17 there are however new limits for a number of professions and industries because ‘’systemic overtime’’ have become part of some work agreements. This means that professions with these agreements are allowed to work at a maximum of 42 hours a week and are not allowed to work more than one hour in overtime per day. Read more about the 48-hour rule here.

Daily resting period

The daily resting period is also known as the 11-hour rule. The 11-hour rule is determined in the working conditions act and it says that an employee is initially entitled to 11 hours of free time on the course of a 24-hour period. 

Some conditions have to be met to reduce the resting period. However, it cannot go below 8 hours. Read more about the 11-hour rule here.

Weekly off day

According to the work conditions act an employee is entitled to an off day in every period of 7 days. Similarly, the off day has to agree with a daily resting period. 

Break after 6 hours

The employee is entitled to a break if the working day is longer than six hours. However, the regulation does not say anything about how long the break has to be, but that there should be enough time for the employee to be able to both eat and drink. This counts for those employees that do not have a work agreement. For employees with a work agreement, the agreement often contains detailed rules for working time, length and number of breaks. 

How early does the overtime have to be warranted? 

Often, there is a confusion about how early the overtime has to be warranted for the employee. This is often vague and it depends on the individual’s work agreement. 

The work agreement will often tell precisely how much prior to overtime work the employee has to be informed. This is different from agreement to agreement, as some work agreements give the employee the right to several weeks of warrant while in others it is just a couple of days. 

Besides this, it appears from the work agreements, when the employee needs a supplementary allowance if the limit of the warrant is not complied with. 

If you are not covered by a work agreement it has to appear from the employment contract or a supervision handbook how long the overtime has to be warranted beforehand. 

Often it is recommended by work unions that you as an employee make a calculation of hours that is continually approved by one’s employer. This helps to give an overview of how many hours you have worked in the specific days and avoid disagreements of the number of overtime hours. Paper notes can be tossed in the dumpster, disappear or be destroyed by coffee, and because of this many companies benefit from using Intempus to keep track of how many hours their employees have worked and when. Intempus can calculate overtime and show how much time off the employee has left or how much there should be paid in overtime bonus. 

Do you have to pay extra for overtime work?

Whether you are entitled to receive payment of overtime or get an overtime bonus or not depends on the individual work agreement or local agreement of the workplace. Those that are hired with a so-called function payment or job payment do not have the right to overtime bonuses as it is a part of their permanent payment – this often counts for leaders. 

If you are hired for a fixed number of hours this means that you initially can demand an hour of time off in lieu for every hour of overtime work. In some places it is also an option that you are paid your usual hourly rate for the extra hours. Whether the overtime hours have to be paid or be compensated by time off in lieu depends on the agreements between employer and employee or in the work agreement. Many work agreements give the employee the right to get a 50% overtime work bonus for the first 3 overtime hours and 100% for additional overtime hours.

With Intempus we have the possibility to keep track of all the administrative work based on the local agreements. This means that the employee and the office just have to report the start and end time for the work, and then Intempus will automatically calculate the overtime and thereby what should be given in overtime hour bonuses or time off in lieu. Even though the work agreements differ, Intempus can take care of the calculations and finetune it to the differences. 

When can you take time off due to overtime?

When the long working days ends and the load is not as high, for many it will be time to take a break – this is of course if there is not paid overtime bonuses. However, there are not many general rules for time off in lieu, and for many it comes down to what the work agreements are saying.

It is the employer that decides when the employee is allowed to take time off in lieu. But the employer has to warrant the time off with the time that is agreed upon in the work agreement. So, for most people there are contract dependent demands for how late an employee must get a notice of taking time off in lieu. Therefore, it is essential for both employee and employer to be aware of the requirements in the work agreement. 

But where do the hours in the time off in lieu come from and how many are you exactly able to take? It can be difficult to get an overview of and make a transparent system.

Keep track of the employees’ overtime and time off in lieu

By using Intempus you can spend your energy elsewhere for example on the company’s many projects. Intempus can register normal hours for each employee. If the employee’s hours surpasses the normal hours, Intempus will automatically register this. This makes it possible to always see every employee’s balance of time off in lieu and at the same time this can be put up to fit the work agreement, as we have talked about earlier. 

Work agreement or contract is the key word to understand, if you as an employee or employer want to be 100% sure that you know which rules for overtime and time off in lieu can influence your own work life. 

If you have any more questions about overtime or time off in lieu, then feel free to contact us. If we don’t have the answer ready immediately, we promise to research it for you.

Are you curious about whether Intempus can meet the needs for easier administration in your particular company? Then you can try designing your own time registration solution here:

Or give us a call: +45 26390400

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