21 Feb Calculate Overtime in Saskatchewan
Figuring how to calculate Overtime in Saskatchewan is actually not that bad a task. Especially if the employees are already keeping an accurate daily hours log. The downside is that every shift has to be calculated to determine whether they qualify for Overtime or not. Even if it isn’t a terribly difficult process, it’s a time consuming task, albeit a necessary one.
The easiest way to go about calculating overtime in Saskatchewan though is to let sophisticated payroll software do the dirty work for you. By using Payroll Connected for example, this process of calculating overtime, vacation pay, statutory holiday pay, and all payroll deductions like CPP, EI and Income Tax can be done automatically. In fact, try it for 30 days free to see if you like it, and if you do (and why wouldn’t you?), continue on for as little as just $9 per month. For those determined to do things the pen and paper way though, here’s how you go about it.
How to do Overtime in Saskatchewan is separated into two categories; Daily Overtime and Weekly Overtime. In either case, Overtime Pay is defined as “1.5 times the worker’s usual wage”. So if an employee earns $20/hr and gets one hour of Overtime, they will receive $20 * 1.5 = $30 for that hour of work.
Calculate Daily Overtime
Daily Overtime is considered to be any time worked over a typical work day. Though most places of work use an 8 hour work day (five days a week) as a typical work week, an employer can also be on a 10 hour work day (four days a week). For all references below, we will assume an 8 hours work day though as it is the more common of the two.
Example: If an employee earns $20/hr and works 11 hours, they will receive:
8hrs * $20 = $160.00 Regular Pay
8hrs – 11hrs = 3hrs OT
3hrs OT * $20 * 1.5 OT rate = $90.00 in Overtime Pay.
Calculate Weekly Overtime
Weekly Overtime is considered to be any Regular Hours worked over 40hrs in a week. If any time was converted to Daily Overtime (above), don’t include them when considering the 40 hour work week. Just like before, hours worked in excess of 40 regular hours are to be paid out at 1.5 times their regular wage.
Example: If an employee earns $20/hr and works 44 hours in a week, they will receive:
40hrs * $20 = $800.00 Regular Pay
44hrs – 40hrs = 4hrs OT
4hrs OT * $20 * 1.5 OT rate = $120.00 in Overtime Pay
Daily Overtime and Weekly Overtime in the Same Week
Here’s a more complicated example where the employee receives both types of overtime in the same week period. Their hours of work for the week look like this:
Mon 8 hrs
Tue 7 hrs
Wed 9 hrs
Thu 8.5 hrs
Fri 8
Sat 10 hrs
When calculating Overtime, always calculate the Daily Overtime first. On Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, they work more than their regular 8 hours, so the remainder will be converted to overtime like so:
Mon 8 hrs
Tue 7 hrs
Wed 8 hrs, 1 hr OT
Thu 8 hrs, 0.5 hr OT
Fri 8 hrs
Sat 8 hrs, 2 hrs OT
Now, if we add up the remaining regular hours: 8+7+8+8+8+8 = 47hrs
By subtracting the 40 regular hours from this, we get: 47hrs – 40hrs = 7hrs OT
So in total, this employee receives 1 + 0.5 + 2 + 7 = 10.5 hrs Overtime! (they really need a break!)
Notice that on Saturday, they only get Daily or Weekly overtime, not both. Thought they worked 10 hours on Saturday and 47 regular hours in total, by calculating the Daily Overtime first, the overtime rate doesn’t get applied to the same hours twice.
Overtime and Statutory Holidays
A couple of important notes regarding calculating overtime in a period that contains a Statutory Holiday.
Regarding Daily Overtime: If an employee is working on a Stat Day, they are already receiving 1.5 times their regular wage. As such, even if they work more than 8 hours on a Stat Day, they do not receive an additional 1.5 Overtime rate for hours worked in excess of 8 hours.
Regarding Weekly Overtime: In a week that contains a Stat Day, the Stat Day is considered to add 8 hours to the weekly total. In other words, the employee will receive Weekly OT for any hours worked in excess of 32 hours in such a week, instead of 40 hours. If the employee works on the Stat Day, these Stat Worked hours don’t contribute to the 32 week hour total, as they’re already receiving premium pay for the hours worked on that day.
Notes and Exceptions
If an employee is in certain industries, such as Farming / Agricultural, they are exempt from the Overtime calculations, and are paid just regular hours.
Managers or Supervisors in salaried positions are often exempt of Overtime rules as well.
Overtime can be averaged over longer periods through a special ‘Averaging Agreement’. In such an agreement, the employee agrees to have their hours averaged over a period of weeks. This can be from 1 to 4 weeks, but it is to be maintained on a regular schedule. So for example, if an employee agrees to have their hours averaged over a 2 week period, then you would add up the hours for the two week period. If the hours are less than the number of weeks times 40hrs, then the employee does not receive overtime. An Averaging Agreement should be in written form, and signed by employer and employee.
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