Overtime – when it applies and how it is paid

Today’s issue of our newsletter brings information about overtime work. When employees become entitled to compensatory time off and how are they paid? We bring you detailed information about records of and payments for overtime work. Overtime work is work performed by an employee beyond the regular schedule. Employers may order employees to work overtime for 8 hours per week up to the maximum of 150 hours per year. Employees grant consent to overtime by starting to carry out the work. It is important to realise that overtime work is ordered by the employer. It is not time spent by an employee at the workplace for their own personal purposes (such as Internet search for private use). For employees with shorter working hours, overtime means work beyond their regular weekly working time. For the overtime work, employees are entitled to their wage and an extra pay of at least 25% of the average earnings unless the employee and the employer agree that compensatory time off will be provided in lieu of the extra pay. Compensatory time off is provided for a period equal to the time for which the overtime work was carried out and must be provided no later than by the end of the third calendar month following the month in which the work was undertaken. Work on bank holidays is compensated primarily by the compensatory time off to the extent of the work undertaken on the bank holiday. For the compensatory time off, the employee receiving wage is entitled to wage compensation amounting to their average earnings. The employer and the employee may agree that instead of the compensatory time off, the employee will receive an extra pay, besides the wage, of at least 100% of the average earnings. If employees work overtime on Saturdays and Sundays (it is assessed from 00:00 to 24:00), they are entitled to extra pay for weekend work of at least 10% of their average hourly earnings. The same applies to night work that is also overtime work (from 22:00 to 06:00). Besides the wage, the employee is entitled to extra pay of at least 10% of the average hourly earnings. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.