Calculating overtime, night hours and public-holiday work: a complete guide with examples

The starting point: the hourly rate

Almost every premium calculation starts from the hourly rate — the base salary divided by the number of working hours in that particular month. The number of working hours varies from month to month (depending on how many working days it contains), so the hourly rate is not fixed across the year.

The base formula is: hourly rate = monthly base salary / number of working hours in the month. All premiums (overtime, night, holiday) are applied to this hourly rate.

• Example: gross base salary of 4,000 RON, a month with 168 working hours.
• Hourly rate = 4,000 / 168 = 23.81 RON/hour.
• This 23.81 RON is the base to which you apply every premium percentage.

Overtime: time off in lieu, or payment with a premium

Overtime is work performed beyond the normal working time (generally beyond 40 hours per week), carried out at the employer's request with the employee's consent, within the limits set by law.

The Labour Code establishes an order of compensation: first, with paid time off granted within the following 60 days (a window that can be extended by law or collective agreement). Only if this is not possible is overtime paid with a premium on the base salary, and that premium is at least 75% under the legislation in force (the exact percentage is set in the collective or individual employment contract but cannot fall below the legal threshold).

Important: if the hours were already compensated with time off, they are NOT paid again — otherwise the employee would be paid twice for the same work.

• Paid time off in lieu (the default option) — within the period set by law.
• If compensation is not possible: payment of the overtime hour + a premium of at least 75%.
• Example: 10 overtime hours not compensated with time off → 10 × 23.81 × 1.75 = 416.67 RON (the base hour plus the 75% premium).

Night work: the 25% premium or a reduced schedule

Night work is work performed between 22:00 and 06:00. A night worker is generally someone who performs at least 3 hours of night work within their daily schedule, or a relevant proportion of their monthly working time.

For night work, the Labour Code provides one of two forms of compensation, chosen by the employer under the contract: either a reduction of the working schedule by one hour compared with the normal duration, without a salary cut, or a salary premium of at least 25% of the base salary for the hours worked at night.

The night premium applies only to hours actually worked within the night interval, not to the entire shift.

• Night interval: 22:00–06:00.
• Minimum premium of 25% for night hours (or a schedule reduced by 1 hour without a salary cut).
• Example: 40 night hours in a month → premium = 40 × 23.81 × 0.25 = 238.10 RON, added on top of the base salary.

Legal holidays: the 100% premium or a day off

Legal holidays are rest days and, as a rule, are non-working. When the nature of the activity nonetheless requires presence at work (hospitality, retail, services, continuous production), work performed on these days is compensated.

The first option is granting corresponding time off within the following 30 days. If that is not possible, the employee receives a premium on the base salary of at least 100% for work performed on the legal holiday.

Romania's legal holidays include, for example, 1 and 2 January, 24 January, Good Friday and the first two days of Easter, 1 May, 1 June, the first two days of Pentecost, 15 August, 30 November, 1 December, and 25 and 26 December (plus days for other recognised faiths). The full list and any updates should be checked against the legislation in force for the given year.

• First option: a compensatory day off within the following 30 days.
• If compensation is not possible: a premium of at least 100% for hours worked on the holiday.
• Example: 8 hours worked on a holiday, not compensated with a day off → premium = 8 × 23.81 × 1.00 = 190.48 RON, on top of paying the hours themselves.

How premiums stack: the full example

The three types of premium are not mutually exclusive — they can stack when the same hour meets several conditions (for example, an overtime hour worked at night on a legal holiday). Each premium is calculated on the base hourly rate and added together.

Take 4 hours that are simultaneously overtime, night and legal-holiday hours, at a rate of 23.81 RON/hour:

• Payment of the base hours: 4 × 23.81 = 95.24 RON.
• Overtime premium (75%): 4 × 23.81 × 0.75 = 71.43 RON.
• Night premium (25%): 4 × 23.81 × 0.25 = 23.81 RON.
• Holiday premium (100%): 4 × 23.81 × 1.00 = 95.24 RON.
• Total for the 4 hours = 285.72 RON gross (versus 95.24 RON for normal work).

Common pitfalls and the role of the timesheet

The most frequent mistakes come from incomplete records or misinterpretation: overtime paid EVEN THOUGH it was already compensated with time off, a night premium applied to the whole shift instead of the actual night hours, or using an average hourly rate rather than the one for that specific month.

The timesheet (attendance record) is the document that justifies every hour before the Labour Inspectorate. It must clearly separate normal, overtime, night and holiday hours, with real clock-in/clock-out times — not estimates reconstructed at month-end.

An electronic time-tracking system eliminates these errors at the source: it records actual punches, automatically flags the 22:00–06:00 night interval, recognises legal holidays from the calendar and computes premiums according to the configured rules. Appy's time-clock module does exactly this — punching with a PIN and selfie (no biometric data, GDPR-compliant), anti buddy-punching, GPS geofencing, and at month-end it generates the timesheet with normal, overtime, night and holiday hours ready to export for payroll and for the Labour Inspectorate. It works for any type of company, not just hospitality.