Overtime in the UK: How to Check If You’ve Been Paid Correctly
Working extra hours can make a noticeable difference to your monthly income.
But when your payslip arrives, do you actually know whether those overtime hours were calculated correctly?
For Albanians working in the UK, overtime can sometimes be confusing because there is no universal rule saying every extra hour must automatically be paid at “time and a half.”
Your overtime entitlement can depend heavily on your employment contract, normal working hours, hourly rate, salary arrangement, and employer’s overtime policy.
That’s why checking only the final amount deposited into your bank account isn’t enough.
Here’s how to check your overtime from start to finish.
1. First, Understand What Counts as Overtime
Overtime generally refers to hours worked beyond your normal working hours.
Suppose your employment contract says you normally work:
40 hours per week
If you work:
46 hours
you may have worked:
6 additional hours
But whether those six hours attract additional pay—and at what rate—depends on your employment terms and applicable employment law.
This is why your first step should not be your calculator.
It should be your employment contract.
2. Check What Your Contract Says
Look for sections covering:
Normal working hours
Overtime
Overtime rates
Weekend work
Night shifts
Bank holidays
Time off in lieu
Approval requirements
Your contract might state, for example, that overtime is paid at your normal hourly rate.
Another employer might offer:
1.25×
1.5×
or another enhanced rate.
An employer could also have different arrangements depending on when the additional hours are worked.
For example, Saturday overtime might be treated differently from Sunday or bank-holiday work.
Don’t assume your employer must pay the same overtime rate as your friend’s employer.
Check what was actually agreed in your employment terms.
3. “Time and a Half” Is Not Automatically Guaranteed
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about overtime in the UK.
Some workers assume:
Normal rate = £15/hour
Therefore:
Overtime must = £22.50/hour
because:
£15 × 1.5 = £22.50
That calculation is correct only if your overtime arrangement actually provides a 1.5× rate.
There is no general UK rule requiring every employer to pay every worker time-and-a-half for overtime.
Your contract may provide an enhanced rate, but you need to check.
4. Calculate Your Overtime Hours Yourself
Don’t rely entirely on payroll.
Keep your own record.
Suppose your normal schedule is:
Monday: 8 hours
Tuesday: 8 hours
Wednesday: 8 hours
Thursday: 8 hours
Friday: 8 hours
Total:
40 hours
But this week you also work:
Saturday: 6 hours
If those Saturday hours qualify as overtime under your employment arrangement, record all six.
If your agreed overtime rate is £18 per hour:
6 × £18 = £108 gross overtime pay
That £108 is before applicable payroll deductions.
5. Example With Time-and-a-Half
Imagine your normal hourly rate is:
£16 per hour
Your employer’s contract specifically states that approved overtime is paid at:
1.5× your normal hourly rate
Your overtime rate would therefore be:
£16 × 1.5 = £24 per hour
If you work 10 approved overtime hours:
10 × £24 = £240 gross overtime pay
If your normal gross earnings for that pay period were £2,500, the overtime could bring gross pay to:
£2,740
before applicable deductions.
When your payslip arrives, you should be able to compare the overtime payment with your own calculation.
6. Check the Overtime Hours on Your Payslip
Your payslip is an important part of this process.
Where pay varies according to hours worked, variable hours should be reflected appropriately on the payslip.
For someone with fixed salaried hours who also works paid variable overtime, the payslip may separately identify those overtime hours.
Look for descriptions such as:
Overtime
OT
OT 1.5
Additional Hours
Weekend Hours
Night Hours
Bank Holiday
Employers use different payroll software, so the exact wording can vary.
Compare the number of overtime hours shown with your own records.
If you worked 14 overtime hours but the payslip shows only 9, investigate the missing five hours.
7. Check the Pay Period
This is easy to overlook.
Suppose you worked overtime during the final three days of August.
Your August payslip doesn’t include it.
You immediately think:
“They haven’t paid me.”
But your employer may have a payroll cut-off date.
Overtime submitted after that date might appear in the following month’s paycheck.
Check:
When the overtime was worked
When it was submitted
Whether a manager approved it
Payroll’s submission deadline
Which pay period should include it
A missing overtime payment isn’t always lost—it may have moved into the next payroll cycle.
But verify rather than assuming.
8. Check Whether Overtime Needed Approval
Some employers require overtime to be authorised before it is worked or submitted.
For example, your employer might require:
Manager approval
Electronic clock-in records
A signed timesheet
Submission through an employee portal
Approval before a monthly payroll deadline
If you worked additional hours but didn’t follow the employer’s overtime procedure, a payment could be delayed or disputed.
Keep evidence where appropriate.
That could include your approved timesheet, rota, clock-in information, emails, or payroll submission confirmation.
9. Check Your Hourly Rate
Now verify the rate itself.
Suppose your payslip shows:
12 overtime hours
That matches your records.
But it shows overtime pay of:
£180
Calculate:
£180 ÷ 12 = £15 per hour
If your contract says overtime should be paid at £18 per hour, you may have identified a discrepancy.
Expected:
12 × £18 = £216
Received:
£180
Difference:
£36 gross
One small calculation can reveal a payroll issue that might otherwise go unnoticed.
10. Don’t Confuse Gross Overtime With What Reaches Your Bank Account
Suppose you earned an additional:
£300 gross overtime
That does not necessarily mean your bank account will increase by exactly £300.
Overtime earnings can affect payroll deductions.
Your payslip could also include deductions such as:
PAYE Income Tax
National Insurance
Workplace pension contributions
Student loan deductions, where applicable
and other authorised deductions.
So compare the overtime calculation at the gross-pay level first.
Don’t calculate:
“I worked £300 of overtime but received only £210 more, therefore my employer stole £90.”
The difference may partly or entirely relate to payroll deductions.
Check the full payslip.
11. Does Overtime Get “Taxed More”?
Workers often say:
“There’s no point doing overtime because they tax all of it.”
That can be misleading.
Additional earnings can increase the amount of Income Tax and other deductions appearing on your payslip.
But the UK Income Tax system uses tax bands.
Moving some taxable income into a higher band does not generally mean your entire salary suddenly becomes subject to that higher rate.
For example, if additional income causes part of your taxable earnings to cross a tax-band threshold, it is generally the relevant portion—not every pound you’ve earned during the year—that is affected by the higher rate.
Your exact PAYE result depends on your tax code, earnings and circumstances.
12. National Insurance Can Also Change
Overtime can also affect your National Insurance deduction.
If your earnings are higher during a pay period, the NI amount on your payslip may differ from a normal month.
Again, this doesn’t automatically indicate an error.
Compare:
Normal gross pay
Overtime pay
Total gross pay
Income Tax
National Insurance
Pension
Other deductions
Net pay
This gives you a much clearer picture than comparing only this month’s bank deposit with last month’s.
13. Salaried Workers Should Check Extra Hours Too
You don’t necessarily need to be paid by the hour to work overtime.
Imagine your contract provides an annual salary for a defined number of basic working hours.
If you regularly work beyond those hours, check what your contract says about additional work.
Some salaried employees receive additional overtime payments.
Others may have different arrangements.
However, minimum-wage rules can still matter when considering total working time and pay.
Working large amounts of unpaid additional time could potentially reduce the effective hourly rate represented by your salary.
This deserves particular attention for lower-paid salaried workers who regularly stay several hours beyond their contracted schedule.
14. Don’t Forget Minimum Wage Rules
Even where a contract does not provide a special overtime premium, minimum-wage requirements still matter.
Employers must ensure eligible workers receive at least the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage under the relevant calculation rules.
Imagine someone receives a salary that looks acceptable based on contracted hours.
But every week, they’re effectively required to work many additional unpaid hours.
Those additional working hours can become relevant when checking whether the worker is actually receiving the legal minimum rate.
The calculation can be more complicated than simply dividing annual salary by 52 and then by weekly hours, so use the official minimum-wage rules if you’re concerned.
15. Weekend Work Is Not Automatically Overtime
Working on Saturday or Sunday doesn’t automatically mean you’re entitled to an enhanced overtime rate.
If Saturday is part of your normal contracted schedule, those hours may simply be ordinary working hours.
Similarly, Sunday work doesn’t universally guarantee double pay.
The key questions are:
Are these hours outside my normal contractual hours?
and
What does my contract say about payment for them?
Don’t rely on assumptions based solely on the day of the week.
16. Bank Holidays Don’t Automatically Mean Double Pay Either
Another common belief is:
“If I work a bank holiday, they must pay me double.”
An enhanced bank-holiday rate is not automatically universal for every worker.
Your entitlement depends on your employment terms and applicable arrangements.
Your contract or workplace policy might offer:
Normal pay
An enhanced rate
Time off in lieu
Another arrangement
Check the terms before assuming what your paycheck should contain.
17. What Is Time Off in Lieu?
Not every overtime arrangement necessarily results in additional cash.
Some workplaces use time off in lieu, often called TOIL.
For example, you work:
8 additional hours
Instead of receiving an extra cash payment, your arrangement might allow you to take equivalent time away from work later, subject to the employer’s rules.
If your workplace uses TOIL, understand:
How overtime hours are recorded
How much time off you earn
When you can use it
Whether it expires
Whether manager approval is required
What happens to unused TOIL if you leave the job
Don’t assume overtime is missing from your paycheck if the agreed arrangement was time off rather than additional pay.
18. Example: Checking an Entire Overtime Payment
Let’s imagine an Albanian employee in England normally earns:
£14.50 per hour
The contract states approved overtime is paid at:
1.5×
The overtime rate is therefore:
£14.50 × 1.5 = £21.75 per hour
During the month, the worker completes:
18 approved overtime hours
Expected gross overtime:
18 × £21.75 = £391.50
The payslip shows:
Overtime hours: 18
Overtime payment: £391.50
The gross overtime calculation therefore matches.
The employee should then check the overall payslip for PAYE Income Tax, National Insurance, pension and other deductions to understand the final net payment.
Now imagine the payslip instead shows:
15 overtime hours × £21.75 = £326.25
The difference is:
£391.50 − £326.25 = £65.25
The first question should be:
Where are the other three hours?
Maybe they missed the payroll cut-off.
Maybe they weren’t approved.
Maybe payroll made an error.
That’s what needs to be investigated.
19. Keep Your Own Overtime Record
If you regularly work overtime, keep a simple record containing:
Date
Start time
Finish time
Breaks
Normal hours
Overtime hours
Expected overtime rate
Manager approval
Pay period
You don’t need complicated software.
A spreadsheet or notes on your phone can be enough.
Then when your payslip arrives, compare your record with payroll.
20. What Should You Do If Your Overtime Looks Wrong?
Start with the evidence.
Check your employment contract.
Check the overtime policy.
Review your rota.
Check timesheets or clock-in records.
Check whether the hours were approved.
Check the payroll cut-off.
Calculate the expected gross overtime yourself.
Then compare that calculation with your payslip.
If you still believe the payment is incorrect, raise the issue with your manager, payroll department, or HR.
Explain specifically what appears wrong.
For example:
“My approved overtime record shows 18 hours at £21.75 per hour, but my payslip includes only 15 hours. Could you please check whether the remaining three hours will be included in the next payroll?”
That is much easier for payroll to investigate than simply saying:
“My salary looks wrong.”
Your Overtime Checklist
Before deciding that you’ve been underpaid, check:
1. How many normal hours does your contract require?
2. How many additional hours did you actually work?
3. Does your contract provide an overtime premium?
4. What is the correct overtime hourly rate?
5. Were all overtime hours approved?
6. Did you submit them before the payroll deadline?
7. Does your payslip show the correct variable/overtime hours?
8. Does gross overtime pay match your calculation?
9. Are you confusing gross overtime with net take-home pay?
10. Are Income Tax, National Insurance, pension or other deductions explaining the difference?
The Bottom Line
If you work overtime in the UK, don’t assume every extra hour must automatically be paid at 1.5× or 2× your normal rate.
Start with your employment contract.
Find out:
What counts as overtime
Whether overtime is paid
What rate applies
Whether different rates apply to nights, weekends or bank holidays
Whether overtime needs approval
Whether TOIL is used
Then keep your own record and compare it with your payslip.
For example, if your contract says overtime is paid at £20 per hour and you completed 15 approved hours:
15 × £20 = £300 gross overtime
That’s the figure you should initially compare with payroll—not simply the change in your net bank deposit.
For Albanians working long hours in the UK, understanding this calculation can help answer the most important question:
“Did I actually get paid correctly for every extra hour I worked?”
Disclaimer: This article provides general educational information and does not constitute personalised employment, legal, tax or financial advice. Overtime entitlement depends on employment terms and individual circumstances. Minimum-wage and working-time rules can change, so workers should check current official UK guidance and seek professional advice where appropriate.