Additional Work

What is meant by additional work, is work, which exceeds the agreed working hours, but does not exceed the statutory maximum regular working hours (usually 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week). In practice, additional work is only possible if the employee normally has shorter working hours than the statutory maximum. Overtime work, on the other hand, is work that exceeds the maximum regular working hours, i.e. 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, overtime limits lower than the limits laid down in the Working Hours Act in a collective agreement.

The distinction between additional work and overtime work is important because there is no requirement to pay an increased salary for additional work. Unless the collective agreement provides for an increased salary, only normal salary is payable for additional work. Additional work does not count towards the yearly maximum for overtime work.

Example: Cashier A, who normally works six hours a day is required to work ten hours a day for a period due to the illness of a fellow employee. The employer pays A a standard hourly salary for the additional work, i.e. the 7th and 8th hours, and an increased salary for the hours exceeding the regular working hours (eight hours a day), i.e. the 9th and 10th hours.

Additional hours can also be agreed to be compensated as time off. The employee must have the opportunity to take time off within six months of the additional work. If it is impossible for the employer to organise time off for the employee, the monetary compensation must be paid. The employer and the employee should try to agree on when the employee can take time off. If they cannot agree, the employer shall be entitled to set the time, unless the employee demands the monetary compensation.

Additional work usually requires employer’s initiative, i.e. employer shall present the additional work. In some special cases it is possible that the additional work can be based on the acknowledgement and silent consent of the employer.

An employer is required to obtain the employee’s consent for additional work. As the giving of the consent is not regulated in any way, the employer and employee may agree in the employment contract that the employee agrees to undertake additional work if required. Likewise, an employer may ask the employee to give fixed term consent to additional work or alternatively obtain the consent separately every time additional work is required. If an employee has consented to additional work, he/she may only refuse to undertake such on days that have been marked as days off on the shift roster or on other days agreed on beforehand and only for justifiable personal reasons. Justifiable personal reasons are e.g. temporary child care problems, studies, a close relative’s celebrations or a trip agreed on beforehand that cannot be monetarily compensated. Even if the employer and employee have agreed that the employee has varying working hours, it doesn’t mean that the employee can agree in the contract of employment to work additional working hours.