What is overtime?
Overtime refers to working hours that exceed the individually agreed standard working hours. This can result from the employment contract, collective agreements or company agreements. Overtime is often caused by operational requirements such as increased order situations or staff shortages.
Legal framework
According to the Working Hours Act (ArbZG), the working day is generally eight hours. An extension to up to ten hours is permitted if an average of eight hours per working day is not exceeded within six calendar months or 24 weeks.
Employees are only obliged to work overtime if this is expressly regulated in the employment contract, collective agreement or in a company agreement. However, there may be an obligation to work overtime in emergencies.
Remuneration and compensation
There is no statutory regulation on the payment of overtime. An entitlement to payment arises if overtime has been ordered or tolerated by the employer and no other agreement exists. Alternatively, overtime can be compensated by time off in lieu. Flat-rate compensation clauses in the employment contract are only effective if they specify a concrete number of overtime hours.
Documentation and proof
Employers are obliged to record employees’ working hours in excess of the working day. This serves to protect employees and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
Overtime in practice
According to the IAB working time calculation, a total of 1.729 billion hours of overtime were worked in Germany in 2016, of which 782 million were paid and 947 million unpaid. Higher-skilled professions and those in the lower wage segment are particularly affected.
Record overtime with the time recording solutions from ZMI
The time recording solutions from ZMI enable transparent and legally compliant recording of overtime. Whether flexitime, fixed working time models or project-related Time & Attendance – the software solutions from ZMI offer individual configuration options for different areas of application. Automatic calculations, approval workflows and individual regulations on remuneration or time off in lieu can be easily mapped. This means that HR managers always have an overview of overtime worked and employees benefit from fair and comprehensible Time & Attendance.
Conclusion
Overtime is a complex issue with many legal and practical aspects. Both employers and employees should make clear agreements and observe legal requirements in order to avoid conflicts.