Overview
Overtime management helps you define working hour limits, detect when employees exceed them, and track overtime in a time bank. Policies cascade from system-wide defaults down to individual users. This feature is available on the Professional plan and above.
Overtime policies
An overtime policy defines the rules for when regular hours become overtime. Go to Settings > Overtime > Policies to create or edit policies.
Policy settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Daily limit | Maximum regular hours per day (e.g., 8 hours) |
| Weekly limit | Maximum regular hours per week (e.g., 40 hours) |
| Overtime multiplier | Pay rate multiplier for overtime hours (e.g., 1.5x) |
| Double-time threshold | Hours after which double-time applies (e.g., 12 hours/day) |
| Double-time multiplier | Pay rate multiplier for double-time (e.g., 2.0x) |
You can create multiple policies for different regions or employee groups. For example, a US policy with a 40-hour weekly limit and an EU policy with a 48-hour weekly limit.
Automatic detection and alerts
TimeLeaf monitors timesheets in real time against the assigned overtime policy:
- When an employee approaches the daily or weekly limit (configurable threshold, default 90%), a warning alert is sent to the employee and their manager.
- When the limit is exceeded, an overtime alert is triggered.
- Alerts appear in the notification center and can be sent via email or Slack.
Configuring alert thresholds
- Go to Settings > Overtime > Alerts.
- Set the warning threshold as a percentage of the limit (e.g., 90%).
- Choose notification channels: in-app, email, Slack, or Google Chat.
- Save the configuration.
Time bank
The time bank tracks accumulated overtime as a balance that employees can use as compensatory time off (TOIL) or receive as pay.
Accrual
When an employee works approved overtime, the hours are added to their time bank. The accrual respects the overtime multiplier. for example, 2 hours of overtime at 1.5x adds 3 hours to the bank.
Expiry
Time bank balances can be configured to expire:
- No expiry. balance carries forward indefinitely.
- Rolling window. hours expire after a set number of months (e.g., 6 months from accrual).
- Annual reset. balance resets at the end of each calendar or fiscal year.
Transactions
Every change to the time bank is logged as a transaction: accrual, usage (time off taken), manual adjustment, or expiry. View the full transaction history under People > [Employee] > Time Bank.
Managers can manually adjust a time bank balance with a note explaining the reason.
Policy cascading
Overtime policies follow a cascading priority:
- User-level. a policy assigned directly to an employee takes highest priority.
- Team-level. applies to all members of a team unless overridden at user level.
- Location-level. applies to all employees at a location unless overridden at team or user level.
- System-level. the default policy that applies when no other assignment exists.
To assign a policy at any level, go to the relevant settings page (user, team, location, or system) and select the overtime policy from the dropdown.
When an employee belongs to multiple teams with different policies, the policy from their primary team is used. Set the primary team under People > [Employee] > Profile.
Reporting
View overtime reports under Reports > Overtime. Filter by date range, team, location, or individual. The report shows regular hours, overtime hours, time bank accruals, and usage for each employee.