The overtime is defined as hours worked by an employee outside the normal weekly working time (in case of salaried overhead employee) and it can be performed only in some cases clearly established by the law.
Weekly working time refers to a program defined in the individual labor contract or, where appropriate, in the collective labor agreement or rules of procedure. The employee is entitled to a weekly rest, for two consecutive days, usually Saturday and Sunday, according to Article 137 of the Labor Code.
If weekly rest cannot be given on Saturday and Sunday, the employee is entitled to a wage set by individual contract or the collective work at the unit level. There are exceptional circumstances in which:
- Accumulated days off are granted after a continuous period of work;
- Continue work may not exceed 14 calendar days, with the authorization of the territorial labor inspectorate and union agreement or employee representatives.
The employees who fall into these exceptional situations and are given cumulative weekly rest are entitled to double compensation due under Article 123, paragraph 2 of Law 53/2003 updated – addition of extra work. The double compensation means 150% of base salary according to the time worked on days when it must be given, normally, a rest, according to article 138, paragraph 2 of the Labor Code.
At the same time, the employee may not waive to weekly rest. Moreover, legal rest period cannot be assimilated to overtime.
In this context, the hours worked on the weekend / weekly rest hours cannot be classified as overtime.
The overtime is calculated at the end of the month, as the difference between total hours worked and the normal working hours for the month after granting a weekly rest. These hours:
- are compensated with time off paid within the next 60 days;
- when the overtime cannot be compensated, the employee receives an additional pay corresponding to the overtime; if negotiated in the labor or collective contract, this additional pay cannot be less than 75% of base salary, according to Article 123 of the Labor Code.
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