According to Law 85/2020, the fines for non-compliance with the legal provisions in force regarding overtime will be increased. This recently published law considers calculating fines based on the number of people who have been affected by non-compliance with their overtime rights. Thus, every employer must know what are the legal provisions concerning overtime as per the law.

  • The legal working time is maximum 48 hours/week, including overtime. There is an exception to this provision which states that the 48 hours/week may be exceeded if the average working hours do not exceed 48 hours/week for a 4 months period.
  • Hours worked outside normal working hours during the week are considered overtime
  • The employee must consent to perform additional work. The exception is made for force majeure situations or for urgent works that are meant to prevent accidents or remove the results of an accident.
  • Overtime can be performed at the request of the employer.
  • It is forbidden to perform overtime which exceeds the legal limits of its duration. Exceptions are made for force majeure situations, situations that may prevent accidents or may remove the consequences of an accident.
  • For overtime, the employee will receive free paid hours within the next 60 calendar days after overtime occurred.
  • During the periods when the employer reduces their activity, an option may be to grant paid days and deduct from them the overtime to be worked in the next 12 calendar months
  • For those situations where overtime cannot be compensated through paid free hours, an option may be to add a bonus to the salary according to the overtime hours/duration performed by the employee.
  • Overtime cannot be performed by people under 18 years of age.
  • For those employees who benefit from days off on the last Friday before Easter (Good Friday), the first and second day of Easter, the first and second day of Pentecost, considering the dates established by the religious Christian cult to which they belong, these days off will be worked/recovered according to a schedule set by the employer.
  • Those employees who carry out their activity in difficult, dangerous conditions that may threaten their health, blind people or people with other disabilities, but also people under 18 years will have at least 3 extra days of leave.