Employment law
Calculating overtime: base, thresholds and rates
Month-end at a bottling plant: payroll must cost the hours worked during the holiday week, including two hours on a public holiday. The accountant divides base salary by 173.33, applies 10% across the board and closes payroll. Three possible errors in a single line: the wrong base, the wrong threshold, the wrong rate.
Our fictional running case: Bani Boissons, a water and juice bottler in Mopti with 45 employees and no establishment agreement.
1. What exactly are we talking about?
The calculation rests on three elements, each determined separately:
| Element | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| The hourly base | Which pay, divided by how many hours? |
| The threshold | From which hour is the premium due? |
| The rate | Which premium, according to the rank of the hour, time and day? |
The right base, the right threshold, the right rate. An error in one distorts the whole calculation.
2. The hourly base
The Code applies the premium to the actual overall wage paid for performing the work. Labour Code, article L.137 The base is therefore not necessarily base salary alone: items that pay for the work itself, such as a performance bonus, are included. Reimbursed expenses are not.
For a full-time employee, the monthly reference is 173.33 hours, the annualised statutory working time:
173.33 = (40 hours × 52 weeks) ÷ 12 months Hourly wage = actual overall monthly wage ÷ 173.33
Example. A Bani Boissons operator receives a base salary of XOF 120,000 and a performance bonus of XOF 10,000.
Actual overall wage: 120,000 + 10,000 = XOF 130,000 Hourly wage: 130,000 ÷ 173.33 = XOF 750 (rounded)
The most common mistake
Dividing only the grade base salary. If the performance bonus pays for the work, leaving it out undervalues every hour. Also check what your collective agreement says about the calculation base.
3. The trigger threshold
The statutory working week is 40 hours (article L.131); in agricultural businesses, 48 hours at most. Labour Code, article L.138 The premium is due beyond that.
Equivalences
For certain intermittent jobs, a longer presence time is equivalent to 40 hours of actual work: the threshold then shifts. Labour Code, article L.136 Order No. 1566/MEFPT-SG lists them:
| Job | Presence equivalent to 40 hours |
|---|---|
| Security, surveillance, fire service | 56 hours per week |
| Sales staff in wholesale and retail (non-food) | 42 hours |
| Cooks in cafés, restaurants and hotels | 45 hours |
| Other staff in cafés, restaurants and hotels | 50 hours |
| Hospitals, clinics, dispensaries | 45 hours |
| Retail sale of food | 46 hours |
| Hairdressing salons | 50 hours |
| Domestic staff | 260 hours per month for 173⅓ hours |
Night work
Night work is work done between 9 pm and 5 am (article L.141). It is a time band: an hour worked from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm splits into half an hour of day work and half an hour of night work.
What you need to do
- Check whether the post falls under an equivalence before counting hours beyond 40.
- Record start and end times, not just totals.
4. Statutory rates
| Day | Band | Minimum premium |
|---|---|---|
| Working day, daytime | 41st to 48th hour | 10% |
| Working day, daytime | Beyond the 48th hour | 25% |
| Working day, night | Between 9 pm and 5 am | 50% |
| Non-working day, daytime | Weekly rest day, public holiday | 50% |
| Non-working day, night | Weekly rest day, public holiday, between 9 pm and 5 am | 100% |
In agricultural businesses, the minimum premiums are 10% for daytime hours beyond 48 hours, 50% for night hours, and 50% or 100% on rest days and public holidays, by day or by night.
5. The collective agreement comes first
The Code’s rates apply only in the absence of a collective agreement or a company or establishment agreement. Collective agreements eligible for extension must in fact cover overtime arrangements and rates (article L.79). Establishment agreements adapt the collective agreement to the company’s conditions (article L.88).
| Order | Text to consult |
|---|---|
| 1 | The company or establishment agreement, if any |
| 2 | The applicable collective agreement |
| 3 | Only if neither exists, the Labour Code rates |
Some agreements set rates well above the statutory minimums. Applying 10% where the agreement provides more creates back pay over the whole period not time-barred, namely three years (article L.118).
6. A full calculation
Example. During the holiday week, a Bani Boissons operator (hourly wage XOF 750) works 44 hours on working days, by day, then 2 daytime hours on a public holiday. No agreement applies.
Hours 41 to 44, daytime: 4 × 750 × 1.10 = XOF 3,300 Public holiday hours, daytime: 2 × 750 × 1.50 = XOF 2,250 Total overtime: 3,300 + 2,250 = XOF 5,550
If an agreement set, for the sake of the example, 35% for working-day hours and 100% for public holidays, the same count would give:
Hours 41 to 44: 4 × 750 × 1.35 = XOF 4,050 Public holiday hours: 2 × 750 × 2.00 = XOF 3,000 Total: 4,050 + 3,000 = XOF 7,050, i.e. XOF 1,500 more in a single week
Flat-rate payment
A flat overtime payment is valid only if it guarantees the employee at least what the statutory calculation would give. Labour Code, article L.139 That calculation must therefore be redone, period by period, to check it.
For the detailed four-step method, see Overtime: manual calculation.
What you need to do
- Review payroll settings: base, threshold, rate.
- Compare every flat rate with the actual calculation of hours.
- Keep time records for at least three years.
A closer look: part-time work
A part-time worker’s pay is proportional to that of a full-time worker with the same qualifications (article L.133). The hourly wage is calculated on the contractual hours, not on 173.33. The Code applies premiums only to hours beyond the 40-hour statutory limit.
Key takeaways in 6 points
- Calculate the hourly wage on the actual overall wage for the work, divided by 173.33 for full-time staff.
- Check whether the post falls under an equivalence before applying the 40-hour threshold.
- Split hours by rank, day or night band, and type of day.
- Apply the agreement’s rates first, and the Code’s only in their absence.
- Check any flat rate against an actual calculation, period by period.
- Keep time records for three years, the limitation period for salary claims.