Overtime during peak periods: how to motivate your staff

Can you require employees to work overtime? And how many extra hours are allowed? You can read about the rules below. Offering extra pay for overtime is one way to motivate your staff. But it is also important to create a pleasant work environment.

Rules for working overtime

You can ask your employees to work overtime during peak moments, but only if it is clearly arranged in their employment contract. If you use a collective labour agreement (collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst, CAO), then it will include the agreements for working overtime. Do you not use a CAO? Then the individual employment contracts must include clear agreements about working outside normal hours before you schedule employees to work overtime.

Maximum overtime hours

Regardless of whether your employment contracts include agreements for working overtime, you must still comply with the terms of the Working Hours Act. This includes the following rules:

• Employees may not work more than 12 hours per day, up to a maximum of 60 hours per week. And they cannot do that every week:
  • average maximum of 48 hours per week, over a period of 16 weeks,
  • average maximum of 55 hours per week, up to 4 weeks in a row.
• As an employer, you are required to keep good records of overtime hours worked.
• You must also give your employees enough breaks. The rule is at least one 30-minute break after working for five and a half hours.

Read more about working hours and rest times. 

Extra pay for overtime

The law does not say how much extra pay (in Dutch) your employee should receive for working overtime. But it is included in the CAO. If you do not use a CAO, you must include this your own employment contract. If the employment contract does not include agreements for overtime pay, then you must make specific agreements with the employee before they can work overtime.

“We offer 50% extra pay for working weekends”, says Manon van der Ende from NON. “That is very unusual in the hospitality industry. But we feel that hospitality is a profession, and we treat our employees like professionals. Just like a doctor or a builder.”

Time-for-time or extra pay

There are different ways to compensate for overtime.

• You pay the employee for the extra hours worked. You can offer the normal hourly wage or an extra overtime allowance.
• Staff claim the overtime hours as extra leave time. 

Van der Ende: “We offer employees time-for-time when they work overtime. Often in the very next week. When they work overtime in December, our colleagues can claim extra leave time in January. We have included that agreement in the employment contract. That is how we cover all of our peak months.”

Rewarding your employees

Good secondary benefits can keep your employees committed. There are a number of ways to motivate staff to work overtime.

Tax-free gifts for overtime

Do you want to reward your employees for working overtime? If so, you can offer a tax-free gift up to a certain amount. The work-related costs scheme (WKR) refers to this as the ‘elective benefit’. You can also offer gifts for the employee’s private benefit, such as a food hamper, gift certificate or athletic membership.

Good work atmosphere and appreciation

Employees are more willing to make an extra effort if there is a good atmosphere at your company. You can influence that as an employer. During peak moments you can offer extra meals, after-work drinks, or a staff party at the end of a busy period. Van der Ende: “We host after-work drinks every 3 months, and we organise a family day once per year. At the end of a busy day, we often sit down for a drink together to relax and talk about the day. We put colleagues in the spotlight to mark special moments. Like when we have set a new record. Or to celebrate a birthday. We also give a gift or send a card to celebrate an employee’s work anniversary.”

Start a conversation

Do not simply expect employees to work overtime; instead, show them that you appreciate their extra effort. “Good employees can easily find another job”, says Jochem Grund, owner of Mascolori Shoes. “In busy periods, you have to communicate clearly and cheerfully about what works and what does not. I have learned to pay more attention to building a bond with colleagues, and to check how they are doing on a regular basis. Are you still enjoying your work? What works, and what does not? Before, I only held a performance review once per year. But then you miss the important things that happen in between.”

Prevent stress and reduce employees’ workload

Stress and extra workloads are a real danger during peak periods. As an employer, you are responsible for creating a safe and healthy working environment. Do not let your employees work too long, and keep checking in with your staff to help prevent them from calling in sick due to stress or a heavy workload.

“We check how our colleagues are doing almost every week, and during peak periods we pay extra attention to everyone”, says Van der Ende. “When one colleague is under too much pressure, we look for ways to adjust the schedule to help them recover. We also hold a survey once per year, so that colleagues can say what is on their minds and offer tips for creating an even more pleasant workplace. I think that is why we have so little absenteeism at NON. We also have not had any long-term absenteeism over the past few years.”

Spread and share the burdens

“When you have a small company, it is especially important to have staff who are willing to be flexible during peak periods”, explains Grund. “For example, I have 2 designers in-house. But when it is busy, they also help pack boxes, serve coffee to customers or organise small events in the shop. That way, we can share the burden. And we spread out our clearance sales over a longer period. On Black Friday, for example, we get 30 times as many orders as a normal day. That is great, but it is also stressful. By spreading discount sales over the week, instead of during a single day, we can reduce our workload.”