Overtime
How to calculate overtime pay in Singapore
MOM's overtime formula step by step: the hourly basic rate, the 1.5 times minimum, who the Employment Act covers, and a worked example with real numbers.
Reviewed 3 min read
Overtime is any work beyond an employee’s normal hours of work, not counting breaks. Many employees in Singapore must be paid for it by law, and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) sets both the minimum rate and the way to work it out.
Who is covered
The overtime rules are in Part 4 of the Employment Act. They cover:
- Non-workmen earning a monthly basic salary of S$2,600 or less.
- Workmen earning a monthly basic salary of S$4,500 or less. A workman does manual work, such as a machine operator or a cleaner.
Some employers pay overtime to staff outside these limits too. That is a matter for the employment contract, not the Act.
Step 1: the hourly basic rate
For a monthly-rated employee, MOM’s formula is:
Hourly basic rate = (12 × monthly basic salary) ÷ (52 × 44)
12 is the months in a year, 52 is the weeks in a year, and 44 is the normal working hours in a week. The bottom of the formula always comes to 2,288 hours.
Use the basic salary here. Allowances, bonuses and overtime already paid are left out.
Step 2: the overtime rate
Overtime must be paid at at least 1.5 times the hourly basic rate. An employer can pay more than that, but never less.
Overtime pay = hourly basic rate × 1.5 × overtime hours
A worked example
An employee earns a basic salary of S$2,400 a month and works 10 hours of overtime this month.
- Hourly basic rate: (12 × S$2,400) ÷ 2,288 = S$28,800 ÷ 2,288 = S$12.5874…
- Overtime rate: S$12.5874… × 1.5 = S$18.8811…
- Overtime pay: S$18.8811… × 10 hours = S$188.81
Round the final amount, not the rate. If you round the rate to S$18.88 first, 10 hours comes to S$188.80, one cent short. Over many employees and many months, those cents add up to an underpayment.
Limits and timing
- Employees can work up to 72 overtime hours in a month. Going beyond that needs an exemption from MOM.
- Normal hours of work are up to 44 hours a week for the usual work arrangements.
- Overtime pay must be paid within 14 days after the last day of the salary period.
How Payro handles it
You enter each employee’s overtime hours for the month, and Payro pays them at MOM’s hourly basic rate. It uses the formula above, at 1.5 times or more, and rounds only the final amount. The overtime appears as its own line on the payslip.
Sources
Payro works this out on every payslip.
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