Overtime calculator
How much overtime has accumulated, what would it be worth in money or days off, and is it even permissible?
Your entries
The agreed working time, excluding overtime.
What a typical week really adds up to.
Optional, only for the payout.
There is no statutory premium. Enter what has been agreed at your business.
Result
Calculated without a premium. An entitlement to one does not arise from the law but only from a collective agreement, works agreement, employment contract or established practice; 25 to 50 per cent is usual.
Calculation
- Overtime per week = 46 − 40 = 6 h
- Overtime per month = 6 × 52 ÷ 12 = 26 h
- Hours per working day = 40 ÷ 5 = 8 h
- Compensatory time off = 26 ÷ 8 = 3,25 days
No sign-up, no storage, calculated in the browser.
How it is calculated
There is no statutory premium
That is the most important thing this calculator tells you, and it appears in no statute: in Germany, a claim to an overtime premium does not arise from the law. It arises only from a collective agreement, a works agreement, the employment contract or established company practice.
Premiums between 25 and 50 percent are common. The calculator therefore starts at zero percent: enter the figure actually agreed at your workplace instead of assuming one.
What the law limits instead
What is regulated is not the pay but the amount. Under section 3 ArbZG, daily working time must not exceed eight hours. It can be extended to up to ten hours provided that eight hours a day are not exceeded on average over six calendar months or 24 weeks.
Calculated per week, that gives an upper limit of 48 hours on average, six working days at eight hours. The calculator checks your input against it and tells you whether the hours are within the limits.
Payment or time off
Whether overtime is paid out or compensated with time off depends on the arrangement at the workplace. The calculator shows both side by side, so the comparison does not have to happen in your head.
Calculating once takes a minute. MetronHR carries these accounts forward continuously, for every employee, and shows the balance at the month end.
Further reading:Section 3 ArbZG · Section 7 ArbZG
The calculator covers the basic statutory rules. Collective agreements, works agreements and employment contracts may contain more favourable arrangements, and for a specific case it is better to ask someone with a licence to practise.
Frequently asked questions
What we get asked about this most often.
Not by law. A claim can arise from a collective agreement, a works agreement, the employment contract or established company practice. Without such a basis, overtime is to be paid at the normal hourly rate.
The German Working Hours Act limits daily working time to eight hours, extendable to ten if the average over six calendar months or 24 weeks stays at eight hours. That results in an upper limit of 48 hours a week on average.
Blanket settlement clauses in employment contracts are only effective to a limited extent. Whether a specific clause holds up is a question of the individual case and belongs in employment law advice.
Via the average daily working time: at eight hours a day, one day of compensatory time off corresponds to eight hours of overtime. For that, the calculator takes your contractual weekly hours divided by the working days.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
Calculating once is good. Never having to calculate again is better.
MetronHR keeps holiday accounts, carries overtime forward and checks breaks automatically as time is recorded. Try it free for 14 days.
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Related
Further reading
Time recording: what is mandatory today, and what is only planned
Matching template
A timesheet and working time record as an Excel template or a printable PDF