Overtime in a Day Versus Overtime in a Week

Overtime in a Day

Employees who are scheduled to work for eight hours per day earn overtime after working more than eight hours in 24 hours.

Employees who are scheduled to work for 10 hours per day for four days in a week earn overtime after working more than 10 hours in 24 hours.

Short-shifting

For the purpose of calculating overtime, the employee's work "day" begins with the start of the employee's first shift and ends 24 hours later. All hours worked within that 24-hour period count towards the overtime threshold.

Example:

During the 24-hour period, beginning 3:00 p.m. on May 3 and ending 3:00 p.m. on May 4 the employee worked 16 hours. This employee must be paid eight hours regular pay and eight hours overtime pay.

Maximum Hours of Work in a Day

Even if the employer pays overtime, employees cannot be scheduled to work more than 16 hours in any 24-hour period unless there is an emergency. Employees must receive at least eight consecutive hours of rest in every 24-hour period.

Overtime in a Week

Overtime in a Regular Work Week

Overtime in a regular work week starts after 40 hours.

A regular work week has 40 hours. The employer may choose to schedule the 40 hours over five eight-hour days or four 10-hour days.

Overtime in a Week With a Public Holiday

A week with a public holiday has 32 hours. Employers can schedule employees to work those 32 hours in four eight-hour days OR three 10-hour days.

Overtime is payable after 32 hours in a week with a public holiday. For example, if a workplace has a week that runs from Sunday to Saturday and employees work eight hours per day Monday to Friday and a public holiday falls on Saturday, the 32 hour weekly overtime limit will be reached on Thursday.

Overtime by the Day and Week

Employees receive whichever is greater – overtime earned by the day or overtime earned in the week.

Overtime by the Day, but Not by the Week

Example:

An employee is scheduled to work for eight hours per day. The employee is asked to work ten hours on one day. The employee works 40 hours for the week. This employee would be paid two hours of daily overtime for Thursday.

Overtime by the Week, but Not by the Day

Example:

An employee is scheduled to work six eight-hour days from Monday to Saturday for a total of 48 hours for the week. This employee would be eligible for eight hours of overtime pay.

Overtime by the Week and by the Day

Example: An employee is scheduled to work eight hours per day but also starts the week with an additional four hours on Sunday and is required to work 10 hours on Tuesday, for a total of 46 hours of work. This employee has earned two hours of daily overtime on Tuesday and four hours of weekly overtime. Since weekly overtime is earned after an employee has worked more than forty hours in a week, this employee, while they started their week on Sunday, didn't earn weekly overtime until the last four hours of work on Friday.