Overtime: Premium and Legal Calculation 2026

The calculation of overtime seems simple: beyond thirty-five hours, a premium applies. In practice, most reassessments and industrial tribunal rulings are not about the rate applied, but about three points that employers rarely handle with the same rigour: the tracking of working time, the crossing of the annual quota, and proof. This article sets out the applicable rules, then these three breaking points.

What triggers an overtime hour

The statutory duration of actual working time is set at thirty-five hours per week. Any hour worked beyond this, at the employer's request, constitutes overtime. The count is made on a calendar-week basis, unless a working-time arrangement is provided for by agreement. These rules apply regardless of the type of contract: the distinction between permanent contracts (CDI) and fixed-term contracts (CDD) has no bearing here, an employee on a fixed-term contract being entitled to overtime under the same conditions.

Two clarifications change many practical situations.

First, the employer's request does not need to be in writing. A tacit agreement is enough: if the employer is aware of the hours worked and does not object, they are binding on the employer. Banning overtime in an internal memo is therefore not enough to avoid paying for it when the workload made it necessary.

Next, what counts is actual working time, that is, the time during which the employee is at the employer's disposal and complies with the employer's instructions without being able to attend to personal matters. Breaks, unless they meet this definition, are excluded.

Premium rates

In the absence of a collective agreement, the rates are as follows:

• 25% for the first eight overtime hours of the week, that is, from the 36th to the 43rd hour.
• 50% from the 44th hour onward.

A company-level agreement or, failing that, a sector-level agreement may set a different rate. This option is not unlimited: the negotiated rate cannot be lower than 10%. When such an agreement exists, it applies, even if it is less favourable than the default statutory rates — which is why it is important to check the applicable collective bargaining agreement before making any calculation.

The annual quota and rest compensation

This is the threshold most often overlooked, because it is not visible on a single payslip.

In the absence of an agreement, the annual overtime quota is 220 hours per year per employee. Below this, the hours are simply paid at the premium rate, and that is all. Beyond it, a mandatory rest compensation is added to the premium: it is 50% of the hours worked beyond the quota in companies with twenty employees or fewer, and 100% in companies with more than twenty employees.

This compensation is not an option offered to the employee: it is owed. A company with thirty employees that has ten hours worked beyond the quota owes ten hours of rest, in addition to the premium payment. This is a liability that quietly builds up when no one tracks the annual total per employee. This tracking falls within payroll management, the only place where the annual total actually becomes visible before it is exceeded.

Replacement compensatory rest

A collective agreement may provide that payment for overtime be replaced, in whole or in part, by equivalent rest. An hour paid at a 25% premium then becomes one hour and fifteen minutes of rest.

Two points deserve attention. Replacement rest, when it fully covers the hour and its premium, neutralises its allocation to the annual quota. And it should not be confused with the mandatory rest compensation mentioned above, which is added on top and replaces nothing.

Caps that must not be exceeded

Regardless of pay, maximum working hours apply:

• 10 hours per day, unless an exemption applies.
• 48 hours in a single week, an absolute cap.
• 44 hours on average over twelve consecutive weeks.

Exceeding these caps cannot be corrected by payment: it constitutes an offence, regardless of the premium paid. Case law also holds that the mere finding that the maximum duration has been exceeded causes harm to the employee, without the employee having to prove it.

Time-tracking: the obligation that decides disputes

The employer must keep a record of working time when employees do not work according to a posted collective schedule. This is a standalone obligation, and it is the real crux of disputes.

In the event of a dispute, the burden of proof is shared. The employee must present sufficiently precise evidence to allow the employer to respond — a timesheet, timestamped emails, access records. The employer must then produce its own time-tracking records. Failing that, the judge decides based solely on the employee's evidence, and the outcome is predictable.

The practical consequence is clear: a company that does not keep reliable records does not lose because the employee is right, it loses because it has nothing to counter with. A monthly record validated by the employee, dated and unalterable after the fact, entirely changes the company's position. The same evidentiary logic applies to the digital payslip, whose value in the event of a dispute depends on the demonstrable integrity of the document and its retention for the full statutory period.

The case of day-rate agreements

Managers with genuine autonomy in organising their schedule may be covered by an annual day-rate agreement. In that case, they do not track their hours and do not accrue overtime.

This exclusion is fragile, and it generates abundant litigation. The day-rate agreement requires a collective agreement authorising it, and a written individual agreement signed by the employee. It also requires effective monitoring of the workload and an annual review meeting. If any one of these elements is missing, the day-rate agreement is deprived of effect: the employee reverts to hourly time-tracking and may claim retroactive payment of overtime, with the corresponding premiums.

This is the point where formalisation matters most. The individual day-rate agreement is a signed document, whose existence and date must be provable years later — just like the amendments that change its terms, or the documents governing remote work, another arrangement where the written document is a condition for enforceability.

Use-case scenarios

SME with no posted collective schedule. The individual time-tracking obligation applies in full. A declarative record validated each month by the employee is the defensible minimum, and it must be retained.

Exceeding the quota. As soon as an employee approaches 220 hours per year, the mandatory rest compensation becomes due on every subsequent hour. Tracking must be annual and per employee, not monthly and aggregated.

Managers on day-rate agreements. Check three things: the collective agreement authorises it, the individual agreement is signed, workload monitoring is documented. The absence of even one of these elements exposes the company to reclassification.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employer refuse to pay for hours not explicitly requested? Rarely. A tacit agreement is enough: if the employer knew about the hours worked and did not object, they are owed. A blanket ban does not prevent payment when the assigned workload made those hours necessary.

What rates apply? 25% for the first eight hours beyond thirty-five, 50% thereafter, unless a collective agreement provides for other rates, which cannot go below 10%.

Can rest replace payment? Yes, if a collective agreement provides for it. The rest must be equivalent to the premium payment. It should not be confused with the mandatory rest compensation owed beyond the quota, which is additional.

What happens beyond 220 hours per year? The hours remain due and subject to the premium, and a mandatory rest compensation is added, at 50% in companies with twenty employees or fewer and 100% beyond that.

Are overtime hours exempt from tax? They benefit from a reduction in employee social security contributions and an exemption from income tax, up to an annual cap. This cap changes over time: it must be checked for the year in question before any net-pay calculation.

Can an employee on a day-rate agreement claim overtime? Yes, if the day-rate agreement is deprived of effect — due to the absence of an authorising collective agreement, a signed individual agreement, or effective workload monitoring. The employee then reverts to hourly time-tracking, retroactively.

Key takeaways

Premium rates are the easy part of the topic, and the one that generates the fewest disputes. What is costly is three parallel obligations: tracking the annual quota per employee so as not to let an invisible rest debt build up, complying with maximum working hours that no payment can correct, and above all keeping an enforceable record of working time.

On this last point, what is at stake is not formal compliance but the evidentiary position. In the event of a dispute, an employer who produces a dated record, validated by the employee and unalterable after the fact, argues the facts. One who produces none suffers those put forward by the other side.