Overtime

Working overtime means that you work more than you should. Overtime is therefore the exceeding of the agreed working hours.

Example

A simple example: Your employment contract states 38.5 hours per week and you have worked 40 hours. Accordingly, you have accumulated one and a half hours of overtime this week.

Difference between overtime & extra work

It is important to note that there is a difference between overtime and extra work. This is because the daily working time of 8 hours per working day is exceeded in the case of overtime.

But how much overtime is actually allowed? As the maximum working time per working day is 8 hours and a typical full-time position is 40 hours per week. This means that a maximum of 48 hours per week is permitted. You can therefore collect 8 hours of overtime.

It should also be noted that the hours are often not paid. This is because you have no legal entitlement to overtime pay.

The following wording is often found in employment contracts: All overtime worked by the employee is compensated with the salary.

However, this blanket statement is ineffective, as it is not clear to the employee how much work is actually required of them and what they are actually being paid for.

A clearer statement would be instead: The salary covers 10 hours of overtime per month.

High earner

Incidentally, high earners are left empty-handed. If the salary is above the contribution assessment ceiling (old federal states: €80,400 and new federal states: €85,200), there is no legal entitlement to additional remuneration. It is assumed here that payment is based on tasks performed and not on hours worked.