Are you entitled to comp time for overtime?

Employees are only entitled to have overtime compensated if the employer also ordered it. So-called voluntary overtime does not count. Whether those hours are then compensated with time off, or the employer pays out the extra hours worked, depends on the individual works agreement, collective agreement or employment contract.

Is voluntary overtime allowed?

Voluntary overtime is not penalised, but does not have to be compensated by the employee. There is only an entitlement to compensation if the employer ordered the overtime.

Comp time for overtime: rules and entitlement

Q: When does comp time have to be granted?

Comp time is mandatory once working hours of 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week, have been exceeded. The overtime has to be compensated within six months. The employer, however, decides exactly when that happens.

What does comp time mean?

Comp time means compensating for overtime that has been worked. Broadly speaking, overtime can be compensated in two ways:

by payment, meaning the employer pays out the hours worked on top of the agreed salary.
by comp time, meaning employers give employees time off to make up for the extra hours worked.

Many employment contracts contain sentences such as "10 hours of overtime are covered by the salary". This means that these hours are included in the salary and are not paid or compensated on top. Legally, though, there are a few things to watch out for here. You can read more about that here.

The German Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG) allows a maximum working week of 48 hours on average over a period of 6 months. In exceptional cases, up to 60 hours a week may be worked. But this overtime has to be compensated within 6 months - through comp time.

So if an employee exceeds the maximum working week of 48 hours, the overtime has to be compensated with time off. The situation is different for part-time staff or employees who do not reach 48 hours a week. Here employers have the option of simply paying the hours out.

In principle, the aim of comp time is to bring the employee's working time account back down to the maximum working time agreed in the contract.

Recording overtime is still seen as a challenging topic in many companies. Recording it has been a legal requirement for years. But whether that happens on a Post-it note or in an Excel spreadsheet is not laid down anywhere. The result: a lack of transparency and disagreements between employers and employees.

With clockin you record working hours effortlessly via the app. Individual work schedules calculate overtime automatically, and both employees and employers can see it in the working time account at any time. That leaves arguments about overtime in the past.

Find out more about time tracking with clockin

Entitlement to comp time: when does it apply to you?

The legal basis

There is no general statutory entitlement to comp time. It has to be set out either in the employment contract, in the company rules or in a collective agreement. The collective agreement for the German public sector (TVöD), for example, states that overtime is to be compensated with time off wherever possible.

Voluntary vs. instructed overtime

There is an important difference between voluntary overtime and overtime ordered by the employer:

Overtime ordered by the employer: There is an entitlement to comp time or payment.
Voluntary overtime: Here the employer decides whether it is paid or compensated with time off.

How does comp time work in practice?

Who decides on comp time?

In principle the decision on whether and when comp time is granted lies with the employer. If it is set out in the contract, the employer has to make comp time possible within a certain period. The TVöD, for example, sets a deadline of six months within which overtime should be compensated. In other sectors or companies, shorter or longer periods may apply, laid down in the employment contract or in works agreements.

When does comp time have to be granted?

In many companies comp time is taken within a few weeks or months. The TVöD, for example, has adopted the statutory framework of six months. Without clear deadlines, and if the overtime has not taken the employee over the statutory limit of 48 hours, there is a risk that overtime expires. This happens after 3 years.

Documenting overtime

For an entitlement to comp time to be claimed, overtime has to be documented. Whether that happens with pen and paper, in Excel or through a digital time tracking system is not prescribed by law. The employer does, however, have to have agreed to the overtime, and the documentation has to match the company's internal rules.

Document overtime automatically with clockin. Learn more now

Special cases and frequently asked questions

Falling ill during comp time - what applies?

If employees fall ill during their vacation, they can submit a sick leave notification to their employer and get the vacation days they missed back. Does the same apply to comp time?

Say an employee is given an afternoon off to “take back” their overtime. If they fall ill that day and cannot come to work, the comp time cannot be taken at another time as it could with vacation. The overtime expires and the employee no longer has an entitlement to comp time.

Comp time for Sunday work - is there an entitlement?

Special statutory rules apply to Sunday work: employees who work on a Sunday are generally entitled to a compensatory day off within two weeks.

The same rules apply here as for comp time for overtime. You can find out more about Sunday and public holiday work here.

Conclusion: what you need to know about comp time:

Comp time replaces overtime pay and is often set out in a contract or a collective agreement.
Employees decide whether and when overtime is compensated.
With voluntary overtime there is no entitlement to comp time.
Documentation is essential in order to prove the entitlement.
In the event of illness, the entitlement to comp time expires.

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