Overtime and Working Time - The Hours That Do Not Appear on the Payslip
A working time dispute differs from a wage dispute in one respect: it is hours, not money, that must be proved. Employers rarely deny that overtime is paid; they deny that there was any overtime. "That is your inefficiency", "it is included in the salary", "that is how we do things here", "you chose to stay": all of it hides one question, who keeps the time records, and what happens when nobody does.
This page sets out working time rules at the level of detail on which disputes are won: what is the norm and what is overtime, how night, shift and rest-day work is counted, what the employer's record-keeping duty means for proof, what happens in remote and "always online" arrangements, and how a lawyer builds a system for an employer that will withstand the inspectorate and a lawsuit.
Updated · Practice area: Employment lawyer
Working Time Norms Under the Code - What Is Lawful and What Is Overtime
Every dispute starts from one table: how many hours were the norm and how many did you actually work. The table shows the Code's requirements, which a contract cannot reduce.
Recovering Overtime - From Reconstructing the Hours to the Money
Qualifying the arrangement
First the norm: 40 or 48, full-time or part-time, aggregated or weekly accounting. Then the contract clauses: is there an overtime rate, is there an "included in the salary" clause and does it meet the specificity requirement. A vague clause is read against the employer.
Reconstructing the hours
Requesting the employer's records (it is obliged to keep them); where none exist, the employee's own notes, the access system, cameras, email and chat timestamps, a calendar of client meetings, transport tickets, colleagues' testimony. The lawyer rebuilds each day in a table.
Using the burden of proof
Keeping time records is the employer's obligation. If the records are missing or incomplete, the employee's reasonable and consistent notes become sufficient for the court, and the employer must prove the contrary. This is the main lever of the dispute.
Calculation
The hourly rate derived from the salary, overtime hours month by month, at the contractual rate or, absent one, at the increased rate set by the court; night and holiday hours separately; interest for every day of delay. Limitation of 3 years for each month.
Demand, inspectorate, lawsuit
A written demand with the table; a Labour Inspectorate check of working time breaches (a fine for the employer and findings for you); a lawsuit without a court fee for the pay and interest. Working time breaches are a priority topic for the inspectorate.
Remote Work, Evening Chats and "Always Available" - Which Time Is Working Time
Outside the office the boundary of working time disappears, and that is where modern overtime disputes are born. The Code recognises remote work and applies the same norms to it: 40 hours, rest, overtime pay. The question is what counts as work: an evening reply in a chat, "two minutes" fixing a report on Saturday, being reachable by phone on holiday.
In practice the court treats as working time the periods when the employee is actually performing a task on the employer's instruction: replying, correcting, joining a meeting. Mere "availability" is not yet clearly paid on its own unless the contract provides for an on-call regime; but systematic, required availability is a change in working conditions that needs agreement and pay.
The lawyer's advice to the employee: requests outside working hours in writing and with timestamps; the chat is itself a record. To the employer: a clear rule on when employees may be contacted, an on-call regime with separate pay, and briefing for managers, because evening "urgent" messages turn into an overtime claim over time.
A Working Time System That Withstands the Inspectorate
- Form of records
- Daily records for each employee: an electronic system, timesheet or log, accessible to the employee. The absence of records is itself a breach and works against the employer in every dispute.
- Overtime rate in the contract
- A specific percentage or amount per hour. "Included in the salary" only if the number of included hours and the rate are stated and the total salary genuinely reflects them.
- Form of consent
- Overtime by agreement: in writing, by order or logged in the system. A verbal "please stay" can later be neither proved nor denied.
- Shift schedule
- In advance, in writing, with a 12-hour break between shifts and 24 hours' uninterrupted rest per week. Breaching the schedule is a typical ground for an inspectorate fine.
- Aggregated accounting
- For uneven workloads: a reference period within which the average week does not exceed the norm. The period must be stated in the contract; without it, each week is counted separately.
What to Record Yourself - Before the Dispute Begins
- A daily note: arrival and departure time, break, task, who asked you to stay. A calendar or a dated notes app.
- Access system or card data: request it from HR in writing while you are still employed.
- Email and chat timestamps: messages sent in the evening and on rest days with work content.
- Schedules, shift tables, orders on holiday work: a photo or copy.
- Payslips with or without an overtime line: what was paid and what was not.
- Colleagues who worked the same pattern: witnesses and often co-claimants.
Three Working Time Disputes
12-hour shifts "included in the salary"
A security guard on 12-hour shifts, 60 hours a week, with a contract saying "the pay covers all working hours". Lawyer: the clause is unspecific, the enterprise is not on the specific-regime list, the shift schedule is the employer's own. The court awarded 2 years' overtime at the increased rate with interest.
An accountant and the "closing period"
60-70 hours a week at the end of every month, no records kept. Lawyer: accounting system logs with timestamps, emails at 23:00, the employer's lack of records. The burden of proof fell on the employer, who could not discharge it. Settlement for 18 months' overtime.
Employer: before an inspectorate visit
A restaurant chain was expecting an inspection; the shift schedule was chaotic. Lawyer: an aggregated accounting system, shift intervals, an overtime rate in the contracts, an electronic timesheet. The inspection ended with minor remarks and no fine.
Questions About Overtime and Working Time
The contract has no overtime rate. How is it calculated then?
The absence of a rate does not cancel overtime pay: the Code requires an increased rate, and the court sets the amount by reasonableness and practice, often 125-150% of the hourly rate. Failing to write in the rate is the employer's defect, not the employee's.
I am a manager with an "unregulated" working day. Am I not entitled to overtime?
The Code does not recognise an "unregulated working day" as a separate category; the 40-hour norm applies to everyone. A managerial position and a high salary can support an argument that hours are included in the contract, if that is written specifically; a general "unregulated" clause cannot.
I refused overtime and was given a warning. Is that lawful?
Overtime requires agreement, and a refusal is not a ground for a disciplinary sanction, except to prevent a disaster. A warning or dismissal for refusing can be challenged and, in the case of dismissal, is a ground for voidance.
I worked on a public holiday and was given another day off. Is that enough?
Holiday work is either paid at the increased rate or compensated with another rest day, by agreement. If the employer offered the substitute day and you accepted, that is lawful; if you were "given the day off" unilaterally, you may claim the money.
How many years back can I claim overtime?
A three-year limitation period for each month separately, from the payment due date. But evidence disappears faster: system logs, camera footage, colleagues. The lawyer advises securing the evidence first and then defining the period.
Lawyers for Working Time Disputes
An overtime case is won with a table of hours and the correct use of the employer's record-keeping duty. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who regularly handles working time disputes.
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Working Beyond the Norm and Nobody Counts It?
In a free consultation the lawyer tells you what counts as overtime in your arrangement, how to prove the hours without records and what the likely amount is - the coordinator phones you within 15 minutes.