The general rule for overtime is that employees are entitled to receive 1½ times their regular wage for each hour worked after 48 in a week. A week is defined as a consistent seven-day period, e.g., Monday to Sunday, Wednesday to Tuesday. For example, if an employee makes $16 per hour, that employee would make $24 per hour for every hour worked over 48 hours.
These rules also apply to some salaried employees. Certain industries are characterized by irregular working hours and conditions and do not follow the general rule. Some have special rules about overtime and some others are not covered by overtime.
Some groups of employees have special rules to deal with overtime, called wage orders. The jobs covered by these wage orders are listed below.
The following groups of employees receive overtime at 1 1/2 times the minimum wage after 48 hours worked in a week:
The following groups of employees receive 1½ times their regular wage after 110 hours worked over a two-week period:
For example, these employees could work 60 hours one week and 50 hours the following week without earning overtime because the combined hours do not exceed 110.
Note: For municipal employees doing street construction, restoration or maintenance work, overtime is 1.5 times their regular rate after 48 hours in a week; if these employees are unionized the collective agreement applies instead.
The overtime rules do not apply to the following employees:
An employer and employee may agree to average the employee’s hours of work over a number of weeks - where there is a pre-determined, fixed cycle of work that repeats over a specific period of time and provides for extended time off. This means the employer would not need to pay overtime based on the number of hours the employee works in one week. Instead overtime would be based on the total number of hours the employee worked in the cycle.
There are conditions that must be met for employers and employees to do this. See Fixed Cycle Averaging Agreements or contact Labour Standards for information on this.
Yes. The Code overall applies to salaried employees.
To calculate the hourly rate, divide the employee's salary (per week) by the employee's regular hours worked per week. If there are no set hours, the number of hours should be a fair representation of a normal work week. Then, calculate the overtime amount due by multiplying the employee's wage per hour by the number of overtime hours worked (over 48 hours per week).
For example, if the employee's contract says the employee works 40 hours a week for a salary of $600, that means the employee's hourly wage is $15 per hour. Therefore the employee's overtime pay would be $22.50 per hour.
In general, employers are not required to pay overtime until the employee has worked more than 48 hours in a week.
In general, managers and supervisors are entitled to overtime at 1 ½ times the minimum wage, after 48 hours worked in a week.
The following will help define manager/supervisor. Does the employee:
The overtime provisions contained in the Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance) apply to the construction industry. In general, employees of the construction industry are entitled to receive 1½ their regular wage after 110 hours worked over two weeks. For example, if a construction worker worked 112 hours over a two week period, the employee would be entitled to 110 hours at the employee's regular wage and the other two hours at 1½ times the employee's regular wage.
If you have any questions, please contact Labour Standards.
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