Calculation of overtime

[michael obrien]

Hi All,

I am after some information on when it becomes necessary to pay overtime. I manage a number of staff and a few of them down tools immediately upon the minute of their rostered finish times regardless of whether the day's jobs are complete or not. This happens even if another 5 minutes would see the tasks completed. This has the effect of forcing others to stay for a considerably longer period of time to complete the work.

If a person is required to stay for 5 - 10 minutes at what point does it become necessary to pay overtime? It seems that things will become unworkable if it is necessary to calculate overtime payments by the "minute". And if a person insists on such an arrangement is it conversely ok to dock pay by minutes at the start of the day if they are minutes late to their work station? And is it ok to dock their pay for the minutes that they stand around chatting about the weekend etc.?

This may sound as though I am war with staff - this is not the case - it is a small number of people who love to "take" but provide no "give". The workplace is very flexible for people who do the right thing and give/take in a true spirit of co-operation. As per usual it is just a few who take most of the time to manage.

Appreciate the advice of fellow HR people.

Kind regards,

Michael.

[Qld IR Consultant]

Sounds like you have a major performance management issue on your hands. Without knowing the demographic of your staff I would think that an "all staff" meeting one day to lay the cards on the table and give them the opportunity to rectify their attitudes would be a good start. After that I think it is a case of having to proactively performance manage those who aren't playing fair. Never all it war, but there comes a time when a line must be drawn in the sand and you have to roll your sleeves up and get a bit dirty for the good of all the workers and the long term viability of the business.

You say that others pick up the slack so how do you think they feel when they see these few get away with what they are doing?....

Are they under an award or an EA?

[Cottoneyes]

Don't think I've ever seen any award or agreement answer your specific question of when overtime is payable to the minute like this. I do however agree that it is a culture problem with these particular workers and Qld IR has a good solution.

The thing you will find either in the agreement or at a minimum a practice within your organisation is that overtime is paid in blocks, generally 15 minutes is the most common.

Highlight this in the meeting, however be prepared for the same guys to then work to 8 minutes past the closing down time to then claim the 15 minutes of overtime. If they do this 5 days each week, that's 1.25 hours of overtime for 40 minutes of work. Consider putting in something (subject to the agreement of course) that OT is paid in 15 minute blocks, after taking into account all hours worked for the week or similar.

[Moz]

... it is a small number of people who love to "take" but provide no "give".

I can't stand people who do that, but you find them in many work places.

Obviously you need to make sure they know what is expected of them and they need to know that they are underperforming and why they underperforming i.e turning up for work late and chatting instead of working (non productive). Start to formally manage their performance.

Re docking pay, it’s messy and will create more work for your payroll people, but let’s face it, that’s not really what you want to do.

You could start by reminding them that they are paid to do a certain number of hours "work", then let them know you are going to keep track of their start time, and the time they waste when they should be working, and that they will be required to make up any shortfall at the end of the day. You might want to include lunch and break times in that as well.

Bear in mind however, you will probably have to do this for everyone or you leave yourself open to claims of discrimination. You could introduce a clock card system, but that’s not foolproof, it also creates a clock watching mentality.

Just as a matter of interest, do you actually pay overtime to any staff already?

You might want to create an “overtime policy” if you don’t already have one, that says no overtime will be paid unless the overtime has prior approval.

[NicoleAnita]

I agree with Qld IR Consultant. Def a performance management issue and cultural realignment you need to address ASAP.

As for overtime cottoneyes is correct. It is usually paid in blocks of 15 mins unless stated differently in an EBA or Award. If I were you I'd check the EBA if you have one. If not check the modern award they are covered by. Then update or draft a policy in relationship to overtime payable.

Remember the same applies to docking them if late. They'll soon get the message!

[Tiger]

Good responses from others and as already raised, type of agreement etc in place in your workplace is the key.
Whilst the horse has bolted on your current problems, others things to consider:

a) at point of hiring, ensure your contracts (letters of offer) are clear about work hours and here you have opportunity to refer to a span of hours with x hrs per day between x and y, as a guide. If you explicity include such as 9 - 5, then that breeds the problem you have.

b) have your salary (wage) structure based on say work hours of 45 per week. A kind of loading if you like and in their employment contract, it is clear that they are expected to work the hours to finish the job each day or whatever goal you are aiming to achieve. So if your actual working hours are 38, you build in another 8 hours into their base rate and have a policy which is clear that overtime will only be paid after that 43 (or whatever number you choose) hours have been worked.

c) Ensure your policies are tight in these areas as with the type of 'taker' you describe, they will find a way around this.

Already touched on, but hitting them in the hip pocket will hurt. Meaning, not being a team player (by leaving others to finish jobs because they leave right on the dot), not pulling their weight means they are going to be marked down and receive a lessor performance rating which, in turn, means a lessor, or no, pay rise. Behavior and attitude are too often overlooked in annual appraisals/reviews.

Your problem sounds to me like a certain type of Aussie found in many organizations, a carry over from the old days when bullying unions ran the show and many workers began to view work as a right, etc.

To fix this cultural problem, you need support of your Senior Leadership Team to support whatever solution route you go down. It might even be that you take each job and review efficiences and perhaps even change the way the work is done. This way, you could ensure that jobs must be finished on the day; you would know how long it takes to do each job or make each widget and so any shirking would easily be picked up ie you waste time during the day, you have to stay in your time until it is finished. These people may well be long term employees who have become entrenched and whose 'heart' is no longer in their jobs. I'd not be afraid to have that conversation one on one with the culprits.

Another point is to utilise the 'power' of the unofficial leaders in the work groups where your problems work. Could be the Team Leader/ Supervisor or Leading Hand or not, get them onside to help you influence the change you want.

The point already offered about how the rest of the guys must feel about having to pick up the slack is critical and I'd be using that as a way to whip them into shape.

Good luck with this
Tiger