Late Night Work Dilemma: Should We Offer Overtime Pay or Comp Time?

Dear Sir,

In our company, many staff members stay in the office until late at night and often request overtime pay or compensatory time off for the extra duty. Could you please advise on the appropriate solution for this situation? Should we provide overtime pay or compensatory time off?

Thank you for your guidance.

Dear Vini,

You need to establish an overtime policy for all your employees. No employee should be allowed to work without appropriate approval from a senior in advance. If an employee is permitted to stay back and work, they should obviously request overtime as they are entitled to it.

Hi Vini, I suggest you check with your top management to determine if there is an overtime policy in place.

Secondly, if you have female employees working after 8 PM, I request that you follow the government's policy for ensuring the safety of working women.

If there is no overtime policy for your workers, identify those employees who are working overtime. Develop an overtime policy with the approval and suggestions of top management. Consult their supervisors to assess if the extra hours are necessary. If so, I have two suggestions for you:

Compensatory time off

First, consider offering compensatory time off. This applies to companies not operating on US, UK, or Australian shifts and where employees are not required to work late every day but may need to work overtime occasionally based on project needs. With approval from their supervisor, employees can take compensatory time off without it being deducted from their leave balance.

Overtime pay

Second, if your top management agrees to pay extra for overtime hours worked beyond the standard work hours, establish a finalized rate per hour for overtime and compensate employees accordingly.

As an HR professional, ensure that employees' efforts are recognized, and if female employees are working after 8 PM, try to minimize it where possible. Consider adjusting their working hours to start early in the morning by 8 AM. Only essential female employees should be required to stay late; others should be allowed to leave before 8 PM. If they need to stay late, arrange for company-approved transportation with security personnel in compliance with government regulations.

I hope these suggestions prove helpful.

Regards,
Nain

For a similar query that was raised earlier, I had given an exhaustive reply. Click the following links for more information:

- Two replies on employees working late: https://www.citehr.com/262828-employ...e-problem.html
- Reply on excess working hours in an IT company: https://www.citehr.com/542119-regard...ml#post2264344
- Recent reply on studying the causes of overtime and making payment of OT redundant by improving work practices: https://www.citehr.com/584341-can-ov...ml#post2354694

For further queries, feel free to contact me.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Sir,

It purely depends on the top management. If they want staff to work longer periods in the long run, then overtime (OT) shall be paid. If it is occasional, then do not start a new burden on the company.