Contents
Who decides whether it is offset or paid out
Without a rule, an entitlement to pay arises, not an entitlement to time off. The employer has a unilateral right to decide only where the employment contract, a works agreement or a collective agreement provides for it.
Conversely, employees cannot force compensatory time off where nothing has been agreed. In practice most businesses set out a choice with time off taking precedence.
How it is converted
One day of compensatory time off corresponds to the average daily working time. At 40 weekly hours over five working days that is eight hours.
Any premium is usually not converted into time but paid separately, unless the agreement says otherwise. Anyone taking 10 hours of overtime with a 25 percent premium as time off therefore gets 10 hours off and 2.5 hours paid.
Not to be confused with leave
Compensatory time off is not leave. It does not satisfy the leave entitlement under the Federal Leave Act and cannot replace it. If somebody falls ill during a day of compensatory time off, the day is not automatically credited back; the rule in section 9 BUrlG applies only to leave.
Example: running down 20 hours of overtime
- Weekly working time 40 hours over five working days, so 8 hours a day.
- 20 hours of overtime ÷ 8 = 2.5 days of compensatory time off.
- Agreed premium of 25 percent: 5 hours are paid additionally.
- The balance in the time account falls by 20 hours.
Common mistake
A compensatory day off gets booked as a day of leave. That costs the business twice over, because the leave entitlement does not fall as a result, and it usually only surfaces on departure.
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026