Calculating overtime for technicians in Belgium: overtime pay, compensatory rest and a worked example

Calculating overtime: the rule in brief

To calculate overtime, you start from the limits on working time. According to FPS Employment (the Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, FOD WASO / SPF Emploi), work beyond 9 hours a day, beyond 40 hours a week or beyond a lower limit set by a collective labour agreement (cao / CCT) entitles the employee to overtime pay: 50% for overtime on weekdays, Saturday included, and 100% on Sundays and public holidays. In principle, overtime is made up with compensatory rest.

These rules are on FPS Employment’s page Working time and reduction of working time (in Dutch), consulted on 31 October 2026. A collective agreement for your sector can set other limits: have your social secretariat (payroll provider) or legal adviser check how the rules apply to your company.

Where it goes wrong with technicians

• A breakdown at the end of the day. The technician stays until the installation works again, and nobody notes what time they finished.
• Travel between customers. That time is working time too, and it is often forgotten.
• Nobody decides. Is an extra hour paid out, made up with compensatory rest, or was it voluntary overtime? If that stays open, the social secretariat receives a total without an explanation.
• The sector has its own agreements. Limits from a collective agreement take the place of the statutory limits, also for compensatory rest and overtime pay. Your social secretariat knows which joint committee (paritair comité / commission paritaire) your technicians fall under (FPS Employment on joint committees, in Dutch).

What counts as working time?

Working time is the time during which staff are at the employer’s disposal. FPS Employment makes it concrete:

• Counts: travel for the same employer between two customers, two building sites, or between the head office and a customer, and training related to the work.
• Does not count: travel between home and the workplace, and the breaks and meals set out in the work rules.

If a technician leaves from home for their first customer, ask your social secretariat how to treat the first and the last journey.

Overtime pay: what does 150 per cent mean?

If a technician chooses, where the law allows it, not to make up the hours, they receive at the end of the pay period their normal pay at 100% and the premium of 50% or 100%: the 150 or 200 per cent people talk about. If they do take compensatory rest, the premium comes at the end of the pay period and the normal pay when they take the rest.

Overtime pay is calculated on normal pay, including the bonuses directly linked to pay, such as a danger bonus or a shift bonus. A year-end bonus is not included.

How much overtime may a technician work?

• Per day and per week: for most overtime with a valid reason, 11 hours a day and 50 hours a week. For urgent work on machines or equipment and in the event of accidents, those two limits do not apply, but the average of 48 hours a week over four months still does.
• Reference period: at its end, the technician must on average respect the weekly working time. In principle, this is a quarter, which can be extended to a year.
• Internal limit: never more than 143 hours above the average at any time. Once that limit is reached, compensatory rest comes first.
• Not making up the hours: after an exceptional increase in work or an unforeseen necessity, the employee can choose not to take compensatory rest for up to 91 hours per calendar year, explicitly and before the end of the pay period. After a consultation procedure, that number can rise to 130 or 143 hours.

Overtime is only allowed in the cases the law provides for. One case is close to a technician’s work: urgent work on machines or equipment at a third party’s business. No prior authorisation is needed for this, but the employer reports the overtime and the reason for it to the Social Law Inspectorate (Toezicht op de Sociale Wetten / Contrôle des lois sociales), within three working days after the period in which it was worked. An exceptional increase in work, on the other hand, does require prior authorisation. Discuss with your social secretariat which case an evening of extra work falls under.

Voluntary overtime since 1 April 2026

The law of 18 May 2026, published in the Belgian Official Gazette (Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur belge) on 1 June 2026, applies retroactively from 1 April 2026. According to FPS Employment (news of 5 May 2026, news of 1 June 2026, both in Dutch):

• a maximum of 360 voluntary overtime hours per calendar year, in all sectors (450 in the hospitality sector, horeca);
• prior written agreement from the employee for one year, renewed tacitly and terminable with one month’s notice;
• no compensatory rest, and no overtime pay on 240 of the 360 hours;
• here too, at most 11 hours a day and 50 hours a week;
• additional conditions for part-time employees.

A special arrangement is provided for tax and social security contributions; for this, FPS Employment refers to FPS Finance and the National Social Security Office (RSZ / ONSS).

Calculating overtime in four steps

1. Note the work schedule and the hours worked for each day, including travel between customers and excluding breaks.
2. Count the hours above 9 for each day, or above the lower limit in your collective agreement.
3. Count the hours above 40 for each week, or above your weekly limit, without the hours from step 2.
4. Record the rate and the decision for each overtime hour: 50% or 100%, and made up, paid out or voluntary overtime.

Which weekly limit? With an effective week of 38 hours set by a collective agreement, overtime pay counts from 38 hours. If you work 40 hours a week with 12 compensatory rest days a year, 40 hours remains the limit, according to FPS Employment.

Calculating overtime in Excel? A spreadsheet or a simple calculator follows the same steps, with on each line: date, work schedule, hours worked, hours above 9, type of day, reason, decision and who approved it. Count the weekly limit separately at the bottom of each week.

Worked example: a heating technician’s week

A fictitious heating company works an effective 38-hour week set by a collective agreement, as in FPS Employment’s example. The work schedule: 8 hours from Monday to Thursday, 6 hours on Friday. On Tuesday, the technician stays with a boiler that has broken down; on Thursday, they finish an installation.

• Per day: 2 hours above 9 hours, on Tuesday and Thursday.
• Per week: 42 minus 38 is 4 hours above the weekly limit, 2 of which have already been counted. So 2 more are added.
• In total: 4 overtime hours on weekdays, at 50%. The overtime pay is 4 times the normal hourly wage times 50%.

The company gives 4 hours of compensatory rest within the reference period. The premium comes with that month’s pay, and the normal pay for those 4 hours when the technician takes the rest. If the technician had an agreement for voluntary overtime, Thursday’s hours could have been voluntary overtime, without compensatory rest. The owner settles in advance with the social secretariat which arrangement applies.

Recording overtime properly

• The start and end of each day, with the breaks and the travel.
• For each overtime hour: the date, the type of day, the reason, the decision and who approved it.
• The signed agreement for voluntary overtime, and a counter per calendar year.
• Every correction, with who made it and why.

According to FPS Employment, the employee receives an overview of the hours exceeded with each final pay settlement, attached to the pay statement. How the technician records their day is covered in technician time tracking.

How it works in Digitalnatie Service Suite

If your organisation uses time tracking, the technician records their day in the technician app and the office approves the hours in the staff and hours screen.

• In the app: the technician’s day screen records the day (travel, intervention, internal work, break); in their hours screen, the technician requests a correction and submits their week. A day without an end or a day that is too long is a blocking discrepancy.
• The work schedule: in the planning configuration, you set the work schedules under working hours. You choose a technician’s schedule on their record.
• Approving: the figures show, among other things, the hours worked, the travel time and the hours beyond the schedule. You approve line by line or a selection at once. For hours beyond the schedule, you choose to pay them out as overtime, to grant them as compensatory rest or not to grant them, with an optional comment.
• Closing and exporting: closing a period locks a past period in which all days have been approved. The payroll export prepares an Excel file for your social secretariat. The calculation rules for breaks, travel, hours beyond the schedule and rounding are with the CSV exports.

Good to know:

• There is no link with a social secretariat: you send the file on yourself. Kilometres and the driver or passenger status are not in it.
• The calculation rules are standard rules, which your organisation confirms according to the rules that apply to your company.
• The user guide does not describe any calculation of overtime pay rates or amounts, nor a counter for voluntary overtime. Your social secretariat does that calculation.
• Approving, closing and the payroll export are done by the administrator and the manager by default. To approve hours, every technician needs a staff record.

How to schedule absences is covered in technician leave planning. What evening and weekend work means for your price is explained in calculating a technician’s hourly rate.

Frequently asked questions

How much is overtime pay in Belgium?

According to FPS Employment, the statutory overtime pay is 50% for overtime on weekdays, Saturday included, and 100% on Sundays and public holidays. It is calculated on normal pay, including the bonuses directly linked to pay.

How many voluntary overtime hours may an employee work in 2026?

Since 1 April 2026, at most 360 per calendar year, or 450 in the hospitality sector, with prior written agreement from the employee for one year. No overtime pay is due on 240 of those hours, and voluntary overtime does not give a right to compensatory rest.

What is left net from an overtime hour?

That depends on the social security contributions and the taxes on that pay. A special tax and social security arrangement is provided for voluntary overtime, for which FPS Employment refers to FPS Finance and the National Social Security Office (RSZ / ONSS). Your social secretariat calculates what is left net.

Does travel between two customers count as working time?

Yes. According to FPS Employment, travel for the same employer between two workplaces is working time, including between two customers. Travel between home and the workplace does not count.

Does Service Suite calculate overtime pay?

Service Suite shows the hours beyond the schedule, and when approving, the office chooses to pay them out as overtime, to grant them as compensatory rest or not to grant them. Your social secretariat calculates the overtime pay and the amounts, based on the payroll export in Excel that you send on yourself.