Is an employer obligated to compensate overtime and if yes, how?

I am employed in a non-governmental organisation and we do not have a collective agreement. My employer has announced that we do not receive any reimbursement for overtime, but at our workplace, overtime is compensated for “on an hour-by-hour” basis. Is my employer obligated to pay overtime compensation and if yes, what is the amount?

Any work performed in excess of the longest regular working hours provided in the Act is treated as overtime (over eight hours a day or 40 hours a week). The specific consent of the employee is required each time overtime is required. Thus, the consent to working overtime cannot be recorded, for instance, in the employment contract. The employee has the right to refuse working overtime, unless the work can be considered absolutely necessary for particularly compelling reasons.

Furthermore, overtime requires the employer’s order or consent. If the overtime can be considered necessary, i.e. if the finishing of the work necessitates extending the working hours beyond standard working hours, overtime does not require specific order. In such a case, the employer must have requested the work and been aware of the fact that it is not possible to perform the work within the agreed working hours.

The working hours exceeding the maximum working hours referred to in the Act (eight hours a day) on a usual day are daily overtime hours. The wage payable for the first two hours of overtime above the daily regular working hours shall be the regular wage plus 50 per cent, and for additional hours the regular wage plus 100 per cent, or a corresponding time off in lieu.

The hours exceeding the regular weekly working hours are weekly overtime. For example, if the regular weekly working hours are from Monday to Friday, the hours worked during the weekend in excess of 40 hours are considered overtime. The wage payable for weekly overtime is the regular wage plus 50 per cent, or a corresponding time off in lieu.

Overtime may also be compensated as free time, upon agreement. In such as case, the compensation must adhere to the scheme described above, not an “hour-by-hour” basis.

The principle is to compensate for overtime based on the increased hours. However, an agreement can be made with managerial employees and employees whose primary duty is to directly supervise or oversee work and who do not participate or participate only temporarily in the work of those whose work they supervise or oversee to compensate overtime as a separate monthly remuneration which is added to the fixed salary. If the separate monthly remuneration is used, it must, on average, be equal to the amount of salary payable on the basis of increased hours. When entering into an agreement on fixed monthly overtime reimbursement, it is recommended to agree on the estimated amount of overtime used as the basis of the reimbursement and the reimbursement amount.