How are overtime hours calculated and paid?
Quick answer
- Overtime is work performed beyond the standard schedule of 8 hours per day.
- It is compensated first with paid time off within the following 90 days.
- If time off cannot be granted, a premium of at least 75% of base pay is paid.
- Maximum working time cannot exceed 48 hours per week on average.
- Overtime is performed only with the employee's consent, save for legal exceptions.
What the law says
- Art. 120 Labour Code: overtime is performed with the employee's consent.
- Art. 122 Labour Code: compensation with paid time off within the next 90 days.
- Art. 123 Labour Code: if time off is not possible, a premium of at least 75% of base pay.
- Art. 121 Labour Code: maximum working time, including overtime, is 48h/week on average.
- Workers under 18 may not perform overtime.
Practical examples
- Example: an employee works 10 overtime hours; the company compensates them with 10 paid hours off within 90 days.
- Example: if time off cannot be granted, the 10 hours are paid with a premium of at least 75% above the hourly rate.
- Example: at a rate of 30 lei/hour, the 75% premium means an extra 22.5 lei per overtime hour.
- Example: the 48h/week average is calculated over a reference period of up to 4 months.
Common mistakes
- Failing to pay the minimum 75% premium when compensation with time off was not possible within 90 days.
- Exceeding the 48-hour weekly average without a correct reference period.
- Imposing overtime without the employee's consent, outside force-majeure situations.
- Lacking an exact record of overtime, which makes correct payment impossible.
How 4softhr helps
- 4softhr digitally records hours worked and automatically separates normal hours from overtime.
- It automatically computes the minimum 75% premium or the compensatory time off due.
- It tracks the 90-day compensation deadline and alerts before it expires.
- It checks the 48h/week average over the reference period and flags any breaches.
- It feeds time-tracking data into the 4b2b payroll module for correct payment.