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Overtime calculator for India
Enter one week and get the overtime pay due under the Labour Codes: twice the rate of wages, worked out on the daily basis and the weekly basis, paying whichever is more favourable to the worker. Most overtime calculators are built for the American rule of one and a half times. This one is built for rule 69.
This is a calculation aid, not legal advice. It applies the Central Rules made under the two Codes. Your state rules, a settlement or your own contract may require more. Checked against the gazette on 18 September 2026.
The three numbers that decide Indian overtime
Almost every overtime calculator that ranks in India is built for a different country. The rule here is not one and a half times after forty hours. It is twice the rate of wages, and the line you cross depends on how the worker is paid.
| What it is | Where it comes from | |
|---|---|---|
| Twice | The overtime multiple. Not one and a half. | OSH Code 2020 section 27 and Code on Wages 2019 section 14 |
| 8 hours | The longest normal working day. | OSH Code section 25(1)(a) and Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 rule 5 |
| 48 hours | The longest normal working week. | OSH (Central) Rules 2026 rule 64(1) |
| 1/26th | The daily wage of a monthly paid worker. | OSH (Central) Rules 2026 rule 69(3) |
| 144 hours | The most overtime allowed in a quarter. | OSH (Central) Rules 2026 rule 69(4) |
The part everyone gets wrong: daily or weekly
Rule 69(1) sets two different tests, and which one applies depends on how the worker is paid. A daily wager earns overtime after eight hours in a day. Everybody else, including every monthly paid employee, earns it after forty eight hours in a week. Read on its own, that means a monthly paid worker who does ten hours on Monday and goes home early on Friday has done no overtime at all.
Where in an establishment (a) a worker works for more than eight hours in any day as daily wager or (b) a worker, other than daily wager, for more than forty-eight hours in any week, Worker shall in respect of such overtime work be entitled to wages at the rate of twice the rate of their wages and shall be paid at the end of each wage period.
Rule 69(1), Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026
But the Code itself is wider than the rule, and the Code wins. Section 27 says the period of overtime is calculated on a daily basis or a weekly basis, whichever is more favourable to the worker. So the safe reading, and the one this calculator uses, is to work out both and pay the higher.
There shall be paid wages at the rate of twice the rate of wages in respect of overtime work ... and the period of overtime work shall be calculated on a daily basis or weekly basis, whichever is more favourable to such worker: Provided that a worker shall be required to work overtime by the employer subject to the consent of such worker for such work.
Section 27, Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
On the week loaded into the calculator above the two bases are a long way apart. The daily test finds 7 hours of overtime because three days ran long. The weekly test finds only 3.5, because the total was 51.5 hours. Paying the weekly answer would cost Rs 673.08; paying what section 27 asks for costs Rs 1,346.15. The gap on one worker in one week is Rs 673.08.
The rounding rule is unusually specific
Rule 69(2): a fraction of an hour between 15 and 30 minutes counts as thirty minutes, and more than thirty minutes counts as an hour. So 2 hours 15 minutes of overtime is paid as 2.5 hours, and 45 minutes is paid as a full hour. The rule says nothing about a fraction under 15 minutes, so this calculator does not round that up. You can always pay more than the minimum.
What wages is the rate built on
Overtime is twice the rate of wages, and the Codes define wages narrowly: basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance. HRA, conveyance, commission, the employer PF contribution and the overtime allowance itself sit outside it. Then comes the proviso that has changed a lot of Indian payrolls: if those excluded allowances come to more than half of all remuneration, the excess is added back into wages. A salary structured as a small basic and a large special allowance therefore carries a higher overtime rate than its basic suggests.
The figures loaded above are the government's own illustration from the Ministry of Labour and Employment FAQ on the Codes: total remuneration Rs 76,000.00, basic and DA Rs 20,000.00, allowances Rs 40,000.00, gratuity and retrenchment Rs 16,000.00. Half of the total is Rs 38,000.00, the allowances exceed it by Rs 2,000.00, and wages become Rs 22,000.00. That moves the overtime rate from Rs 192.31 to Rs 211.54 an hour.
What changed on 21 November 2025
The four Labour Codes commenced on 21 November 2025, and the Central Rules under them were notified on 8 May 2026. Section 143(1)(a) of the OSH Code repealed the Factories Act, 1948, along with twelve other Acts including the Contract Labour Act, the Mines Act and the Motor Transport Workers Act. Any page that still explains Indian overtime by quoting section 59 of the Factories Act is quoting a repealed Act.
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| The law | Factories Act 1948 section 59, plus state Shops and Establishments Acts | OSH Code 2020 section 27 and Code on Wages 2019 section 14 |
| The multiple | Twice the ordinary rate of wages | Twice the rate of wages. Unchanged. |
| The wage base | Basic wages plus allowances, excluding bonus and overtime | Basic plus DA plus retaining allowance, with allowances above half of total remuneration added back |
| The trigger | Nine hours in a day or forty eight in a week | Eight hours in a day for daily wagers, forty eight in a week for everyone else, whichever basis favours the worker |
| The cap | Fifty hours a quarter under the Factories Act | One hundred forty four hours a quarter under rule 69(4) |
| Consent | Not required | Required. Second proviso to section 27. |
The rules quoted on this page are the Central Rules, which apply where the Central Government is the appropriate government. States notify their own rules under the same two Codes, and state Shops and Establishments Acts continue to operate alongside them. The multiple of twice is in the Codes and does not vary. The prescribed hours, the quarterly cap and the register formats can. Check your own state before you file anything.
Who this actually covers
Covered
- Workers in an establishment where ten or more workers are employed.
- Manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical and supervisory work.
- Supervisors drawing wages of Rs 18,000 a month or less.
- Contract workers and inter state migrant workers, who are now inside the same Code.
Outside the definition
- Anyone employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity.
- Supervisors drawing wages above Rs 18,000 a month.
- The armed forces, the police service and prison staff.
- Establishments with fewer than ten workers, which stay under the state Shops and Establishments Act.
Two limits that are not about money. Overtime needs the consent of the worker under the second proviso to section 27, and it cannot exceed 144 hours in a quarter under rule 69(4). Separately, section 26 requires a rest day in every period of seven days; a worker deprived of one is owed a compensatory holiday within that month or the two months after it, and rule 6(4) of the Code on Wages (Central) Rules pays the rest day worked at the overtime rate.
Free download
The attendance and overtime register
An Excel workbook shaped on the two registers rule 72 of the OSH (Central) Rules, 2026 actually prescribes, with the overtime maths live in the formulas rather than left to you.
- Weekly OT: hours Monday to Sunday, the rounded overtime for each day, both statutory bases and the one that pays more
- Wage base check: the 50 per cent proviso
- Form XIV: attendance register cum muster roll
- Form XV: register for wages, overtime and deductions, which pulls the overtime straight from the weekly tab
- Rules and rates: every constant in one place with its gazette citation, so a change of law is one cell
Where should we send it?
One email with the file. We will not pass your address to anyone else.
Where the hours are supposed to come from
A calculator only helps if somebody wrote down the hours. Under rule 72 you are required to keep an attendance register and a wages and overtime register anyway, electronically or on paper, and the wage slip in Form V has a line for overtime wages. If that record lives in a notebook, the overtime argument is unwinnable.
What Fuzen HRMS Pro does
- Mark attendance for every employee each day: present, absent, half day, on leave, week off or holiday, with the shift and a note.
- A check in log of mobile check in and check out times, with the GPS location if the employee's browser allowed it.
- A weekly shift roster grid, so who was on general, morning or evening shift is a record rather than a memory.
- A payroll run that uses those attendance records, with PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS worked out.
What it does not do
- It does not total the hours in a week, so it does not flag the 48 hour line.
- It has no overtime earning head and does not calculate overtime pay at twice the rate. That is this page, the workbook, or a custom build.
- The check in log is a record of times, not a computed hours figure, so the hours still get added up by a person.
Try the attendance side for yourself
Fuzen HRMS Pro is built for Indian businesses with 5 to 50 employees: 12 modules across attendance, leave, payroll, letters and appraisals, with a self service portal. It is a 14 day free trial with no credit card, then Rs 35,000 one time with hosting billed on usage. If you need the overtime rules in this page wired into the payroll run itself, that is a custom build and worth a conversation.
Start the 14 day free trialTalk to us about a custom buildCommon questions
How is overtime calculated in India?
Work out the hourly rate from wages, then pay twice that rate for every overtime hour. For a monthly paid worker the daily wage is one twenty sixth of monthly wages, and a normal working day is eight hours, so the hourly rate is wages divided by 26 divided by 8. On wages of Rs 20,000.00 that is Rs 769.23 a day, Rs 96.15 an hour and Rs 192.31 for each overtime hour. The divisor of 26 is rule 69(3) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026.
Is overtime 1.5 times or 2 times in India?
Two times. Section 27 of the OSH Code says wages shall be paid at the rate of twice the rate of wages for overtime work, and section 14 of the Code on Wages says the overtime rate shall not be less than twice the normal rate of wages. One and a half times is the American rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Most of the overtime calculators that rank in India are built for that rule, which is why they give the wrong answer here.
Is overtime calculated per day or per week?
Both, and you pay whichever comes out better for the worker. Section 27 of the OSH Code says the period of overtime work shall be calculated on a daily basis or weekly basis, whichever is more favourable to such worker. Rule 69(1) of the Central Rules sets the two tests: more than eight hours in a day for a daily wager, more than forty eight hours in a week for everyone else. The calculator above runs both and shows you the gap.
Is overtime calculated on basic salary or gross salary?
On wages, which the Labour Codes define as basic pay plus dearness allowance plus retaining allowance. HRA, conveyance, commission, the employer PF contribution and the overtime allowance itself are all outside it. There is one catch: if those excluded allowances add up to more than half of all remuneration, the excess is added back into wages, which raises the overtime rate. The second calculator on this page works that out.
What is the maximum overtime allowed in India?
Rule 69(4) of the OSH (Central) Rules, 2026 says no worker shall be allowed to work overtime exceeding one hundred forty four hours in any quarter of a year. That is the central rule; a state may prescribe a different figure under its own rules. Overtime also needs the consent of the worker under the second proviso to section 27.
Does the Factories Act still apply to overtime?
No. Section 143(1)(a) of the OSH Code repealed the Factories Act, 1948, along with twelve other Acts, and the four Labour Codes commenced on 21 November 2025. Pages that still explain Indian overtime as section 59 of the Factories Act are quoting an Act that is no longer in force. The multiple has not changed, but the trigger, the cap and the registers have.
Do managers get overtime?
Usually not. The OSH Code defines a worker and then excludes a person employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity, and a person employed in a supervisory capacity drawing wages above Rs 18,000 a month. Section 27 pays overtime to workers, so people outside that definition are covered by their contract rather than by the Code. The Code also only reaches an establishment where ten or more workers are employed.
What happens if someone works on their weekly holiday?
Rule 6(4) of the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 says the day worked is paid at the overtime rate, and the substituted rest day is paid at the ordinary rate. Section 26 of the OSH Code separately requires a rest day in every period of seven days, and a worker deprived of one is owed a compensatory holiday within that month or the two months after it.
How do I round part hours of overtime?
Rule 69(2) is unusually specific: a fraction of an hour between 15 and 30 minutes counts as thirty minutes, and more than thirty minutes counts as a full hour. So 2 hours 15 minutes of overtime is paid as 2.5 hours and 45 minutes is paid as a full hour. The rule says nothing about a fraction under 15 minutes, so this calculator does not round that up. You can always pay more than the minimum.
How do I calculate overtime in Excel?
With monthly wages in B2 and hours worked on one day in C2, the hourly rate is =B2/26/8, the overtime rate is =B2/26/8*2 and the overtime hours for that day are =MAX(0,C2-8). The weekly test is =MAX(0,SUM(C2:I2)-48). Pay whichever of the two is larger. The free workbook on this page has all of that written in as live formulas, along with the rounding rule and the two prescribed registers.
Sources
Everything on this page is taken from the gazette rather than from other people's summaries. Read them yourself:
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020: section 25 daily hours, section 26 weekly holiday, section 27 extra wages for overtime, section 143 repeals.
- OSH (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 345(E) of 8 May 2026: rule 64 working hours, rule 69 wages for overtime, rule 72 registers, Form XIV and Form XV.
- Code on Wages, 2019: section 13 hours of work, section 14 wages for overtime work.
- Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 343(E) of 8 May 2026: rule 5 hours of work for a normal working day, rule 6 the weekly day of rest, rule 9 the longer wage period.
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