Overtime and Sunday pay calculator

You worked late four nights this month, came in on a Sunday, and your payslip looks the same as last month. Before you can argue about it you need one number: what an hour of your time is worth. This calculator works that out from your monthly salary, applies the overtime, Sunday and public holiday rates the law sets, and tells you what should be sitting on top of your salary.

What this tool works out and who it is for

You enter your gross monthly salary, the ordinary hours you work in a week, whether you work five days or six, the overtime hours you worked, the Sunday hours, whether Sunday is one of your ordinary working days, and the public holiday hours.

The tool returns your normal hourly rate, your overtime, Sunday and public holiday rates, the pay owed under each of those three headings, and the total extra owed on top of your salary. It also flags the limits you may have crossed.

It is for employees paid a monthly salary who work extra hours: retail and hospitality staff, security officers, drivers, factory workers, admin staff on month-end, and anyone told that a salary means unlimited hours. It also helps a small employer check a payroll run.

How the calculator decides

The steps run in the same order every time.

First it turns your monthly salary into an hourly rate. The formula is your monthly salary times 12, divided by 52 weeks, divided by your ordinary weekly hours. That converts a monthly figure to a weekly one properly. Dividing a month by four weeks is the shortcut most people use, and it understates the year, because a year has 52 weeks and not 48.

Second it works out the overtime rate at one and a half times the normal hourly rate, and multiplies that by the overtime hours you entered.

Third it works out the Sunday rate, and this is where the answer turns on one question. If Sunday is not one of your ordinary working days, a Sunday is paid at double. If Sunday is one of your ordinary working days, it is paid at one and a half times. The toggle in the tool switches between the two.

Fourth it works out the public holiday rate at double the normal rate for hours worked on a public holiday you would ordinarily have worked.

Fifth it adds the three amounts and shows the extra pay owed. That figure sits on top of your salary. It is not your whole pay for the month.

The hour limits the tool checks

The tool also measures your hours against four ceilings.

The ordinary week is 45 hours. The ordinary day is nine hours if you work five days a week or fewer, and eight hours if you work more than five. Overtime is capped at ten hours a week unless a collective agreement allows more. And no single day may run past twelve hours in total, overtime included.

If the ordinary hours you entered exceed 45, the tool warns you that the hours above 45 are overtime and must be paid as overtime, whatever your contract calls them. Labelling a 50-hour week as "ordinary hours" in a contract does not make it so.

If the overtime hours exceed ten in a week, it warns that the employer is over the limit, and adds the point that matters to you: that is the employer's problem, and you must still be paid for every hour worked.

If you worked a Sunday and Sunday is not an ordinary working day for you, it warns that the rate is double and that working any part of a Sunday must be paid as at least your ordinary daily hours, unless you actually worked longer than that.

The tool always shows one further warning, because it applies to everyone: overtime cannot be forced on you. It has to be agreed. An agreement to work overtime signed when you were hired may not run for longer than a year at a time.

Who these rules do not cover

The overtime, Sunday and public holiday rules do not apply to senior managers, to sales staff who travel and set their own hours, or to employees who work fewer than 24 hours a month. They also stop applying to anyone earning above the earnings threshold, which the Minister sets and changes each year, so check the current figure before you assume you are covered. If you are above it, your contract rather than the Act governs your extra hours.

The law behind it

The rules come from the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997. That Act sets the 45-hour ordinary week, the ordinary daily maximum, the ten-hour weekly overtime cap, the twelve-hour daily total, the overtime and Sunday multipliers, and the public holiday rate. The LawMatch rate table records those figures with the date they took effect.

Three points sit alongside the arithmetic. Instead of paying overtime in money, an employer may give paid time off, but only by agreement and within the periods the Act allows. A public holiday falling on a day you would ordinarily work must be paid whether or not you work it; if you do work it, you get at least double, or your normal day's pay plus your earnings for the hours worked, whichever is more. And a bargaining council agreement or sectoral determination may set different rates, while your own contract may be more generous. The Act is the floor.

Employers sometimes try to move that floor by rewriting the contract. They cannot do it unilaterally. Read can my employer change my contract without my consent if that is happening to you.

Worked example

This example is illustrative. Sipho earns R23 400 a month and works an ordinary 45-hour week over five days.

Start with the hourly rate. R23 400 times 12 is R280 800 a year. Divide that by 52 weeks and you get R5 400 a week. Divide by 45 ordinary hours and his normal rate is R120 an hour.

His overtime rate is one and a half times R120, which is R180 an hour. Sunday is not one of his ordinary working days, so a Sunday is double, which is R240 an hour. A public holiday is also double, so R240 an hour.

Now put hours to it. In one month Sipho works six overtime hours, five hours on a Sunday and four hours on a public holiday.

Six overtime hours at R180 is R1 080. Five Sunday hours at R240 is R1 200. Four public holiday hours at R240 is R960. Added together, that is R3 240 owed on top of his salary for the month.

Change one fact and the total moves. If Sunday were one of Sipho's ordinary working days, his Sunday rate would be one and a half times R120, so R180, and the five Sunday hours would be R900 instead of R1 200.

What this tool does not decide

The tool cannot tell you whether the hours you entered match the hours your employer recorded. If that is in dispute, the timesheets, clocking records and roster decide it, so keep your own record.

It does not know whether you are above the earnings threshold, whether you count as a senior manager, or whether a sectoral determination covers your industry. Those questions change the answer completely.

It does not apply a bargaining council agreement or a contract term that is better than the Act. If either applies to you, read it, because the better term is the one that counts.

And it does not decide a dispute. Unpaid overtime is a money claim, and the Department of Employment and Labour or a court decides it. If refusing overtime got you disciplined or dismissed, that goes to the CCMA or a bargaining council.

When to get advice, and the free route

Start with the payslip. Ask in writing for a breakdown of the hours recorded and the rate applied. An employer must keep those records and give you a payslip showing hours and rates. Many disputes end the moment someone recalculates the hourly rate properly.

If that does not fix it, take the free route. The Department of Employment and Labour takes complaints about unpaid overtime at any labour centre, and an inspector can issue a compliance order. It costs nothing. The CCMA on 0861 16 16 16 handles a dismissal or an unfair labour practice, also free and without an attorney. Deadlines there are short, and our CCMA deadlines calculator works out yours.

Get an attorney where the amount is large, where the claim runs back years, or where the fight is really about whether you are an employee at all. If you cannot afford one, Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 may help, and our legal aid page explains who qualifies.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this page is general information, not legal advice. Check your contract, your payslips and any bargaining council agreement before relying on a figure here.

Frequently asked questions

Can my employer force me to work overtime?

No. Overtime must be agreed. An agreement signed when you were hired cannot run for more than a year at a time, and a general clause saying you will work "such hours as required" does not turn every extra hour into something you must do. Refusing lawfully is not misconduct, and what is a fair reason for dismissal in South Africa sets out what is.

I am on a salary. Does that mean overtime is included?

Not by itself. If the Act covers you, extra hours are paid at the statutory rates whatever your contract calls your package. Where the arrangement genuinely does include extra hours, the total must still respect the 45-hour ordinary week and the hour limits.

Do I get paid for a public holiday I do not work?

Yes, if it falls on a day you would ordinarily work. You get your normal day's pay. If you do work it, you get at least double, or your normal day's pay plus your earnings for the hours worked, whichever is more.

What if I only worked two hours on a Sunday?

You must be paid for at least your ordinary daily hours, unless you actually worked longer than that. So a short Sunday shift does not mean a short Sunday payment.

My employer had me working 12-hour days all week. What now?

Twelve hours including overtime is the daily ceiling, and overtime is capped at ten hours a week unless a collective agreement allows more. Exceeding those limits is the employer's breach, but you must still be paid for every hour worked. Record the dates and report it to a labour inspector.