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In this guide
By Onah Attorneys Inc • Updated July 2026 • Legal information, not a substitute for advice on your specific matter.
Overtime law is blunt: over the threshold you negotiate, under it the BCEA dictates — 1.5x weekdays, 2x Sundays, capped hours, agreement required. Yet unpaid overtime remains the most common wage theft in the country, hidden in ‘flexible hours’ clauses and salaried-role folklore. Here are the actual rules and the recovery routes.
Who the rules protect — the threshold
BCEA overtime protections apply to employees earning BELOW the ministerial earnings threshold (updated periodically — check the current figure). Above it: overtime is purely contractual — no statutory 1.5x, which is why that threshold number matters more than any clause in your contract. Below it, no contract can waive the Act.
The core rules
Overtime only by AGREEMENT (contract or ad hoc — but agreement, not instruction); maximum 10 overtime hours a week (extendable slightly by collective agreement); pay at 1.5x the wage, or paid time off by agreement (90 minutes per hour). Sundays: 2x if not normally a working day (1.5x if it is). Public holidays: double the daily wage territory. Night work (18:00-06:00): allowance/shifted pay plus transport considerations. ‘We don’t pay overtime here’ is not a policy — it’s a confession.
The ‘built-in overtime’ and ‘salaried’ myths
Contracts saying ‘your salary includes all overtime’ work only above the threshold or within strict limits — below the threshold, blanket buyouts of statutory overtime are unenforceable for what exceeds the agreed ordinary hours. ‘You’re salaried/management’ changes nothing below the threshold either: the Act looks at earnings, not titles. Junior ‘managers’ on modest pay are the classic underpaid category.
Proving and claiming
Employers must keep attendance records — their absence counts AGAINST them. Your evidence: clock records, emails sent at 21:00, rosters, WhatsApps calling you in. Claims: unpaid overtime is a money claim — CCMA (s73A for earners below the threshold), Department of Labour inspectors, or civil action; back-claims reach three years (prescription). Dismissal for refusing unlawful overtime demands (beyond agreement/caps) is unfair dismissal on top.
For employers who’d rather not be defendants
Written overtime agreements at onboarding, actual time records, threshold audits when salaries change, Sunday/public-holiday rosters priced correctly, and TOIL administered lawfully. One retrenched aggrieved bookkeeper with three years of clock data is how these audits usually happen — voluntarily is cheaper.
Frequently asked questions
I earn above the threshold — can I claim overtime?
Only what your contract promises. The statutory 1.5x doesn’t apply above the threshold — negotiate it going in, not after the 60-hour weeks.
Can my employer force me to work overtime?
Only per an agreement and within the caps. No agreement = refusal isn’t misconduct. Emergency/operational exceptions are narrow.
How far back can I claim unpaid overtime?
Three years’ prescription on wage claims — a well-documented back-claim is often substantial. Records first, letter second.
Is time-off instead of pay legal?
Yes, by agreement: 90 paid minutes off per overtime hour, granted within the prescribed period. Undelivered TOIL converts back into money owed.
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