Overtime

Last updated on April 8, 2024

Overtime is when an employee works more than their regular schedule. This time must be authorized in advance and scheduled by a supervisor and offered on a voluntary basis.

Employees in the BCGEU, Nurses' and King's Printer/Unifor bargaining units have the right to refuse overtime, unless there is an emergency. Employees in the PEA bargaining unit do not have such language in the PEA Main Agreement.

Part-time employees are paid overtime for working in excess of the normal workday or workweek of full-time employees.

Compensation

Overtime may be taken as pay at overtime rates, time off or a combination of both. Talk to your supervisor to find out how overtime compensation is provided in your department.

Overtime is compensated for the following employee groups:

BCGEU	All employees
Nurses	All employees
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union	All employees
PEA	Part-time and auxiliary employees Full-time employees are not eligible for overtime as they receive a special compensation in lieu of overtime that equals seven per cent of their gross basic salary (not including adds-to-pay or allowances) from Jan 1 to Dec 31. This can be taken as pay, time off or a combination of the two.
Excluded	Schedule A Statutory Term with a bargaining unit classification OIC Category B Other excluded employees (for example, managers, EAAs, SEAs) are not compensated for overtime.

Overtime rates

Overtime worked on the same day as a regular shift
First 2 hours	Time and one-half*
Beyond 2 hours	Double-time
Overtime worked on a 'day of rest'
All hours	Double-time
*Exception: Employees in the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union receive double-time for all overtime worked.

Calculating overtime

Overtime is accounted for in 30-minute increments, for example:

Overtime worked	What to record in Time and Leave
10 minutes	0.5 hours
37 minutes	1.0 hours
2 hours, 18 minutes	2.5 hours

How to record overtime

For assistance with recording overtime in Time and Leave, access Time and Leave Support (IDIR restricted).

Banking overtime

Overtime entered in Time and Leave is paid out on the employee’s next paycheque. Overtime hours can also be banked and taken as time off later. As part of the approval and sign off process for an employee’s time card, a supervisor can move the overtime entered to an employee’s compensatory time off (CTO) leave plan. For assistance with banking overtime in Time and Leave, access Time and Leave Support (IDIR restricted).

Breaks and meal allowances

Be sure to take the appropriate amount of time for breaks and get something to eat while working overtime.

Call-out

This unexpected call back to work is different than overtime. See examples for how to calculate your time.

Transportation

Reimbursement for transportation expenses is provided if travel from home is required to respond to a call-out or to work overtime between the hours of 11:30 pm and 6 am when convenient public transportation or other transportation facilities are not available.

Employee Self Service: access from home (ESS) (IDIR restricted)
Employee Self Service: access from work (ESS) (IDIR restricted)
Collective agreements

Did you find what you were looking for?

The B.C. Public Service acknowledges the territories of First Nations around B.C. and is grateful to carry out our work on these lands. We acknowledge the rights, interests, priorities, and concerns of all Indigenous Peoples - First Nations, Métis, and Inuit - respecting and acknowledging their distinct cultures, histories, rights, laws, and governments.

More topics