Germany has no nationwide 1.5x overtime premium; Everhour keeps overtime reporting tied to your actual agreement.
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The calculation answers how much extra pay is owed when an employee in Germany works beyond the applicable agreed working time and the excess time is payable. Germany's Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG) sets working-time limits, rest breaks, rest periods, and Sunday/public-holiday limits, but it does not create a single nationwide overtime premium. The premium comes from the employment contract, collective agreement, works agreement, or usual remuneration under BGB section 612 where pay is expected.
For payroll, separate three items before multiplying anything: regular hours, overtime hours, and the applicable overtime multiplier or time-off rule. Also check whether the day itself stays within ArbZG limits. Employees' working time may not exceed eight hours per working day under ArbZG section 3, except that it can extend up to ten hours only if the six-month or 24-week average stays at eight hours per working day.
Germany is not a time-and-a-half jurisdiction. Do not enter 1.5x or 2x as a statutory default. Use the premium actually stated in the employment contract, collective agreement, or works agreement. If the agreement says overtime is compensated with time off instead of cash, the pay calculation is not the final answer; you need the time-off balance and the approval record.
A common mistake is treating every hour above 40 in a week as automatically payable at a premium. In Germany, the weekly context matters, but the ArbZG baseline is daily working time: eight hours per working day, normally producing an effective 48-hour average cap across a six-day working week because Sunday is generally protected as weekly rest. Collective agreements can allow covered deviations, but those deviations are still capped at 48 hours per week on average.
Use this formula when overtime is paid in cash: regular pay = regular hours × base hourly rate; overtime rate = base hourly rate × agreed multiplier; overtime pay = overtime hours × overtime rate; gross pay = regular pay + overtime pay. The multiplier is user-entered because Germany does not set a fixed statutory overtime premium.
Example: an employee has a regular 40-hour week, works 45 payable hours, earns €24 per hour, and the applicable agreement pays overtime at a 25% premium. Regular pay is 40 × €24 = €960. The overtime rate is €24 × 1.25 = €30. Overtime pay is 5 × €30 = €150. Gross pay for the week is €1,110 before tax, social insurance, or other payroll deductions.
A one-off calculation is enough when you need a fast gross-pay check for one employee, one period, and one clear overtime rule. It is also enough for estimating the value of a specific overtime balance before payroll review. It is not enough when hours cross multiple days, the agreement allows compensatory time, or Sunday, public-holiday, break, and rest-period rules need review.
Use a managed workflow when overtime has to be approved, retained, reported, and handed to payroll. German employers must record working time exceeding the eight-hour daily baseline and retain those records for at least two years; BMAS also notes the BAG's 2022 ruling requiring a system for recording total employee working time. Everhour Reporting can surface overtime in Team Hours and custom reports so managers review the record before payroll export.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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No. Germany does not set a nationwide 1.5x or 2x overtime premium. Overtime pay or time off is normally governed by the employment contract, collective agreement, or works agreement. BGB section 612 can support implied or usual remuneration where pay is expected, but the calculator still needs the actual agreed premium or compensation rule.
Check the daily ArbZG limit first. Employees' working time may not exceed eight hours per working day, unless it is extended up to ten hours and the average over six calendar months or 24 weeks does not exceed eight hours per working day. The weekly average then follows from that daily structure and the protected Sunday rest pattern.
If the applicable agreement gives compensatory time off, the cash-pay formula is incomplete. You still calculate the overtime hours, but the output becomes a time-off balance rather than an overtime premium amount. The record should show when the overtime was worked, when it was approved, and when the substitute time off was taken.
Breaks affect payable working time because they are not the same as hours worked. Work over six and up to nine hours requires at least 30 minutes of breaks, and work over nine hours requires at least 45 minutes. Employees may not work more than six consecutive hours without a break, so daily totals should separate working time from unpaid break time.
No. Work is generally prohibited from midnight to midnight on Sundays and statutory public holidays. Where Sunday work is permitted, a substitute rest day is required within two weeks; for work on a public holiday falling on a weekday, the substitute rest day is required within eight weeks. Any pay premium still comes from the applicable agreement.
Everhour Reporting provides customizable reports with 45+ columns, grouping, filters, date ranges, exports, and scheduled email delivery. When overtime tracking is enabled, managers can review overtime and double-overtime data in Team Hours and custom reports before payroll or internal approvals.
Everhour Timesheets let users submit weekly project hours or working hours for approval, and managers can approve, reject, or partially approve submitted time. Submitted and approved time is protected from edits, giving payroll a cleaner record for overtime checks and corrections.
Track approved hours, review overtime in Team Hours, and send payroll-ready reports from Everhour Reporting so German overtime calculations are backed by a clear audit trail.
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