Overtime: ordinary, voluntary and tax-favoured

Ordinary overtime earns a 50 percent supplement (100 percent on Sundays and public holidays) plus compensatory rest. Since 1 April 2026 you may additionally work up to 360 voluntary overtime hours a year, 240 of which are fully net: no supplement, no social security, no tax. For overtime with a supplement a tax advantage applies up to 180 hours a year.

Three kinds of overtime

Ordinary overtime is the hours above the normal limit (as a rule 9 hours a day or 40 hours a week, or the lower sector limit) that your employer can ask for in case of an extraordinary increase in work or force majeure. They earn a 50 percent supplement, 100 percent on Sundays and public holidays, and you recover them as compensatory rest. Voluntary overtime you agree to yourself in writing: since 1 April 2026 up to 360 per calendar year, without justification and without compensatory rest. And tax-favoured overtime is ordinary overtime with a supplement on which the government grants a tax advantage, up to an annual ceiling.

The 240 net hours since April 2026

Of the 360 voluntary overtime hours, 240 are gross equals net: no supplement, no social security contributions and no tax, for you or your employer. The former relance hours (120) and the old quota of 100 have merged into this; the scheme is in the Official Gazette with retroactive effect from 1 April 2026. The condition is a prior, explicit and written agreement, valid for a year under the new scheme. The remaining 120 voluntary hours are paid as ordinary overtime with a supplement. For a maintenance technician at 25 euros gross per hour that means: a net hour yields 25 euros, where an ordinarily paid overtime hour often ends up around 20 euros net after supplement, social security and tax.

The tax advantage on overtime with a supplement

For overtime with a statutory supplement of 20, 50 or 100 percent you get a reduction in withholding tax (57.75 percent of the calculation base at a 50 or 100 percent supplement, 66.81 percent at 20 percent) and your employer remits less. The ceiling rises from 130 to 180 hours a year: this is laid down in the law of 15 July 2026 reforming personal income tax (Official Gazette of 29 July 2026) and applies retroactively from 1 January 2026. Construction already had 180, road and rail works have 280, hospitality 360. Check your payslip: the reduction must be shown separately.

What does that mean for you?

In shift and maintenance environments overtime is often structural. Then count not only on the rate but on the scheme: net hours are the most advantageous per hour, but you lose the compensatory rest and they do not count towards your holiday pay or pension. Ordinary overtime with a supplement and tax advantage does build rights. When you get an offer, ask how the employer handles overtime: pay out, recover or a mix, and through which quota. Calculate with the gross-to-net calculator what your base pay yields net, and see overtime pay for the supplement rules in detail.