Overtime
Last updated: March 28, 2023
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.
On this page
- Compensation
- Overtime rates
- Calculating overtime
- How to record overtime
- Banking overtime
- Breaks and meal allowances
- Call-out
- Transportation
- Resources
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.
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.
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