Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can we limit allowed overtime?
A. Yes – whether through legal requirement or personal preference, your company can limit the amount of overtime each employee is allowed to undertake. The easiest way to coordinate this is through an online leave management system like WhosOff, which calculate how many hours each person has completed on your behalf. This way, you can make sure additional requirements are distributed evenly between team members.
Q. Is overtime paid or unpaid?
A. Ultimately, it’s up to each company individually to decide how overtime should be compensated. Some businesses choose to pay employees for overtime, as it encourages more people to volunteer for additional work. But if you’re particularly busy, this can quickly become very expensive.
Often companies choose to make overtime unpaid but offer another incentive instead – such as time off in lieu. But if you pursue this route, make sure you record lieu time on your company holiday calendar, to make sure staff time off is managed appropriately.
For more information and support, read our blog: time off in lieu versus overtime – what’s the difference?
Q. Can we produce reports on staff overtime?
A. Yes – in fact, it’s a good idea to regularly analyse and report on overtime, so everyone in your businesses realise how hard people are working.
Gaining a clear overview of additional hours worked helps you to make strategic decisions on resourcing and staffing, to stop employees burning out. And if you’re using an overtime management system like WhosOff, it’s very simple to extract information and create reports to share with senior colleagues.
