Overview

An overtime rule in Octal HR defines the thresholds after which overtime applies and the multipliers used to pay it. A rule can apply to everyone, or be scoped to a specific department or designation; the most specific active rule (designation, then department, then all) is used for each employee.

Overtime hours are entered on each day's attendance record — they are not auto-derived from raw biometric punches. The overtime rule then decides how those hours are paid. For the pay calculation and payslip line, see Configuring Overtime Pay.

OT rule settings

SettingWhat it controlsDefault
Applies toScope of the rule: all employees, a department, or a designationAll
Daily threshold (hours)Hours worked in a day beyond which overtime applies8
Weekly threshold (hours)Optional weekly hours beyond which overtime applies48
OT multiplierMultiplier applied to the hourly rate for weekday overtime1.5×
Weekend multiplierMultiplier for overtime worked on a weekend / off day2×
Holiday multiplierMultiplier for overtime worked on a public holiday2×
Max OT hours / monthOptional cap on paid OT hours per employee per month—

Configure OT rules

1
Settings → Overtime Rules → New Rule.
2
Name the rule (e.g., "Office OT Rule", "Factory Floor OT").
3
Choose what the rule applies to: all employees, a specific department, or a specific designation.
4
Set the daily threshold (hours per day before OT applies) and, optionally, the weekly threshold.
5
Set the OT multiplier, weekend multiplier, and holiday multiplier in line with your labour policy.
6
Optionally set a maximum OT hours per month cap. Leave blank for no cap.
7
Save. The rule is active immediately.

Monthly OT cap

The optional max OT hours per month setting limits how many overtime hours are paid to an employee in a single month, protecting against data-entry errors and keeping OT within your labour policy limits. Leave it blank to allow uncapped overtime.

Tip: The Factories Act 1934 caps overtime at 4 hours/day. Set the monthly cap in line with that limit (for example, around 52 hours) so that unusually high OT entries stand out for review.

When payroll runs for the month, Octal HR reads the overtime hours recorded on attendance and applies the matching rule:

  1. For each employee, the most specific active rule (designation → department → all) is selected.
  2. The recorded OT hours are multiplied by the hourly rate and the standard OT rate multiplier from the rule. (The weekend and holiday multiplier fields are stored on the rule for future use, but payroll does not currently switch multipliers automatically by day type.)
  3. If a monthly cap is set, hours beyond the cap are not paid.
  4. The resulting OT amount appears as a separate earning on the payslip and is included in taxable income. See the Overtime Pay article.