A video editor joins the company for 40 hours a week under an employment contract containing a clause that any overtime is deemed to be included in the work. At the employer's request, he regularly worked additional hours. The employer refused to pay these overtime hours. How does the court rule?
Judge's considerations
The issue in this case is whether the video editor worked overtime, if so, how much, and whether those hours are eligible for compensation.
The video editor argued that he had already worked several days for the employer in anticipation of the written contract of employment based on the verbal commitment that he would be compensated for this in time or money. Thereafter, he worked additional hours on behalf of the employer over a four-month period, adding up to a total of 154 hours. He substantiated this with monthly schedules and self-maintained time records.
The video editor claimed payment for overtime. The court points out that there is no general statutory regulation for the compensation of overtime. In principle, the agreements made by the parties on the payment of overtime are leading. The employment contract concluded between the parties stipulates that the performance of the work may involve longer average working hours and that compensation for any overtime is deemed to be included in the video editor's salary.
The video editor acknowledged to the court that his job entailed long working hours, which resulted in him having to work overtime almost every day. He did not dispute that compensation for those hours was deemed to be included in the agreed salary. However, according to him, that is not what his claim is about. He is only claiming compensation for 154 overtime hours, which he worked before entering into service, on four weekend days and on an additional three weekday evenings after regular work.
The judge held that the significant number of overtime hours worked by the video editor was disproportionate to the remuneration for any overtime hours discounted in the salary. The court therefore held that these overtime hours should be considered excessive and should be compensated on the basis of good employment practice. After all, an employer cannot reasonably require an employee to perform so much extra work without rewarding that extra work financially or compensating for it in other relevant ways.
Judge's ruling
In conclusion, the employer is ordered to pay all claimed overtime and the holiday allowance thereon. The employer must also pay the statutory increase and statutory interest on this.
Note: The usual clause that any overtime is deemed to be included in the work does not work for all actual overtime. The court weighs the relationship between overtime worked on request and the remuneration for any overtime discounted in pay.
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