Overtime Pay Calculator (UK)
Updated November 2026 · Free · No sign-up
Calculate UK overtime pay — the UK mandates NO overtime premium: your contract sets the rate (time-and-a-half and double-time are custom, not law), with the real legal floors being NMW across all hours and the 48-hour average.
Quick answer: No statutory OT premium exists in the UK — the contract governs: common patterns are 1.5x after contracted hours and 2x Sundays/holidays, but plain time (or TOIL, or nothing for salaried staff) is lawful IF average pay stays over minimum wage. Overtime that’s regular enough also feeds holiday pay.
The UK Position
Unlike the US’s FLSA 1.5x or Malaysia’s statutory multiples, UK law sets no overtime rate. The guardrails instead:
| NMW floor | Total pay ÷ total hours ≥ minimum wage each period — unpaid OT for low-paid staff breaches (checker) |
| 48-hour average | 17-week average cap unless you’ve signed an opt-out (revocable on notice) |
| Contract terms | Compulsory vs voluntary OT clauses; guaranteed OT must be offered AND paid |
| Holiday pay | Regular OT (compulsory, and regular-voluntary per the case law) must enter the 52-week holiday rate — the big back-claim |
Worked Examples
Example 1. £14/hr, 8 OT hours at 1.5x = £168.
Example 2 — salaried "reasonable additional hours". £35,000 contract with the standard clause: no OT pay due — but the NMW check (35,000 ÷ 52 ÷ actual weekly hours) and the 48-hour average still bind; persistent 60-hour weeks at that salary pass NMW but may breach WTR without an opt-out.
Example 3 — the holiday-pay echo. Regular 8-hour OT weeks lift the 52-week average: your leave weeks should pay ~£112 more — the systematically forgotten entitlement.
Negotiating OT
Where contracts are silent, OT is voluntary both ways — you can decline, they needn’t offer. Sector norms (construction 1.5x/2x, retail plain-to-1.5x, professional salaried-nothing) anchor negotiations. TOIL (calculator) trades the cash for time at policy rates. Night workers add the WTR’s separate limits and health-assessment rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the legal overtime rate in the UK?
There isn’t one — contracts set OT rates; the law only enforces minimum wage across all hours, the 48-hour average, and whatever the contract promises.
Can my employer make me work overtime?
Only if the contract provides for compulsory OT (and WTR limits/opt-out status allow) — silent contracts make it voluntary.
Does overtime affect holiday pay?
Yes — regular overtime (compulsory, and regular voluntary per case law) must feed the 52-week holiday-pay average; its omission is a claimable underpayment.
Can I refuse the 48-hour opt-out?
Yes — signing is voluntary, refusal can’t disadvantage you, and signed opt-outs revoke on 7 days’-to-3-months’ notice per the agreement.
Is unpaid overtime legal?
For salaried staff above NMW with reasonable-hours clauses, generally yes — until pay ÷ hours dips under minimum wage or hours breach the WTR.
✓ Formula verified • Last updated: November 3, 2026