Working overtime and UT addition (UB -tillegg)

Overtime and overtime rates 

At Oda we value space for life and overtime should be treated as an exception. We also follow the Collective agreement and Working Environment Act when it comes to rules and regulations. According to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority, overtime is only allowed if there is a special and time-limited need for it. Overtime cannot be used as a fixed scheme. Any overtime must be approved by your nearest leader. 

Good to know: 

• Overtime will be paid with half and full hours - So overtime between 1 - 30 minutes will be paid as 30 min overtime and overtime between 30 - 60 minutes will be paid as 60 min overtime. Rounded overtime is only paid with overtime pay. 

• If you have a fixed salary, your overtime will also be added to your time bank. Click here to read more about the time bank and how to add overtime to Quinyx. 

• When called for overtime on days you do not work or when called back for overtime after you have gone home, you are paid 2 hours' pay, regardless of whether the overtime is shorter than two hours. Overtime work beyond 2 hours is paid as normal overtime.

• For all employees we calculate daily overtime after a 7.5 hours work day (8 hours including 30 min lunch break). 

• If your working day exceeds 9,5 hours, Oda will offer overtime food. If possible you should use the canteen at your workplace. If there is no food available at the canteen, food can be ordered for a maximum of 200 NOK per employee (to make it tax-free). Amounts above the 200 NOK are taxable for the employee and are not refunded. You can submit the costs for overtime food in accordance with the expense policy. If there is no food available in the canteen and it is not possible to order food, a food allowance of 86,50 NOK can be paid. You can contact your leader who will inform payroll.  

Overtime calculations

The overtime rate is determined by what day the overtime hours fall on. When calculating the average, the overtime rate that applies to the day hour no. 151/143 etc. falls is thus paid. No overtime is paid when the limit of 150/142 hours is reached during an absence that applies as active time - overtime is then only paid when/if you are back at work in the same calculation period.

• Overtime rate 50%. Ordinary overtime rate is a 50% addition during regular working days. 

• Overtime rate 100%. Overtime addition is paid for overtime worked on Saturday, Sunday, so-called "red days" and on days before red days. 

• Overtime rate 100%. Overtime during regular working days between 21:00 and 08:00, this is not applicable for the hours your shift is planned during this time. 

Weekly overtime is averaged over a period of 4 weeks. If work exceeds an average of 35.5/37.5 hours a week during the period, overtime is paid. (applicable for people following collective agreement). 

Weekly overtime is averaged over a period of 52 weeks. If work exceeds an average of 37.5 hours a week during the period, overtime is paid.

The following time frames are used to calculate average working hours: 

• Administrative staff: 52 weeks (01/01/XX to 31/12/XX) 

• Change managers: 4 weeks 

• Team leaders: 4 weeks 

• Operators and Drivers: 4 weeks 

In Oda, we have flexible working hours. That means we can work a little extra one day, and take some hours off the next day, to make our lives flow better, without having to juggle hours against each other in Quinyx every time we leave early. We strive toward little to no use of overtime, and our policy is to prioritize workloads in a way that does not require overtime. We take time off regularly if we have worked more than 7,5 hours one day, to make sure our weeks on average are 37,5 hours.

You are not entitled to overtime compensation if you have a leading  or independent position (ledende eller særlig uavhengig stilling). You can find this information in your employment contract, but a general rule is that PMs, employees with people manager responsibilities, Head of, Directors and CXOs are not entitled to overtime compensation. 

If you do not have a leading or independent role, you are entitled to overtime compensation if you meet any of the following criteria:

•  Work beyond 9 hours in one day

• Work beyond 50 hours in one week

• Work beyond 48 hours on average per week over a period of 8 weeks

• Work beyond 37.5 hours on average per week over a period of 52 weeks

And, 

• The overtime is approved by and/or assigned by your manager. For cross-functional group roles, it is good to involve product managers (PMs) in the approval process to give managers the full picture before approving. 

Overtime is only approved and compensated if the following requirements are met: 

• You work more than 9 hours per day or 50 hours per week (or 48 hours on average over 8 weeks)

• The overtime is approved by your manager

• There is a clear business need to work overtime

Putting in extra work to build up hours to take off later, or working a long day because you were in good flow, without any pressing business needs that require overtime, does not qualify.

Overtime approval 

Overtime should be agreed upfront, but we know that you don’t always plan for overtime happening. 

•  If you’re heading into a period of larger workloads, agree with your manager (And PM if relevant) that you have approval to register overtime for a limited period of time, and approximately how much. Use the opportunity to discuss prioritization, and if it’s possible to make changes to some deadlines to reduce or remove the need for overtime. 

•  If something comes up that brings up a last-minute need for overtime, make sure to reach out to your manager (And PM if relevant) as soon as possible after the overtime work. Your manager can retroactively approve the overtime, but that should be the exception rather than the rule. Use the opportunity to make a plan for the upcoming period, if you expect more overtime work.

Why does overtime need to be approved? 

There is of course a cost aspect to this, but that’s not the main and only reason. Oda has a responsibility to ensure that all employees have healthy working habits. The use of overtime is also clearly regulated by law in the Working Environment Act. Discussing and making conscious decisions about overtime work with their teams how we ensure that we follow these laws. It also helps leaders to understand how their priorities and deadlines are affecting working habits in the organization, and make any changes to their habits.

A Slack message from your Manager is enough to have the overtime approved.

What is a business need?

It will always be subject to interpretation whether something is a business need or not. 

• Business need: A general rule of thumb is that work has a business need if you have been assigned work or deadlines with no flexibility in when that can be delivered. 

• No business need: If there is flexibility in when something should be delivered, or the deadline is far enough away that you can do the work in normal hours there is no business need for overtime. That means overtime will not be approved, even if you work more than 9 hours per day. 

How do we track working hours?

Flexible working hours is a trust-based system 

We don’t want to get into the habit of tracking when we come to work, work longer or leave early every day. We trust you to ensure that your hours add up over time without adding administrative burden. 

• Flexible hours should even out over an 8-week period as a rule, to avoid a large build-up of flex time. If your hours are building up, and you don’t see the possibility for time off, you should engage your manager for support.

• If you’d like to speak to someone else than your manager about this you can always reach out to the people team for support. 

We do however believe in healthy working habits, and if we find that people are working very long hours (whether of free will or to build up hours), your manager should engage you in a dialogue about that. 

Overtime should be registered in Quinyx

You should register in Quinyx if:

• If you work for more than 9 hours per day and overtime is approved.

• If you work more than 50 hours per week, and overtime is approved.

• If you know that you are heading into a more labor-intensive period, where you want to ensure that you don’t bypass working more than 48 hours weekly over a period of 8 weeks, even if those hours might not merit overtime pay.

Overtime is compensated by either

•  140% of hourly wage per overtime hour, or

•  Time off equivalent to the hours of overtime, and 40% of hourly wage per overtime hour

Getting overtime paid out

When you register overtime in Quinyx, you will automatically be compensated 40% of each hour to your next paycheck, and an equivalent to every hour worked is added to your hour bank. To trigger a payout of your hour bank, your manager must request that payout through payroll

• To avoid a large build-up of hours, we aim to null our hour banks either through payout or flex out every third month. 

That means that you can expect your manager to ping you and talk about how you want to be compensated for your hour bank. The People team will pull out reports every third month, and remind managers of this. Your hours will not be deleted if we go over the three-month mark - this is purely a mechanism to avoid large accumulations of time.