The Right to Receive Overtime Pay

One of the best kept secrets in Ontario workplaces is an employee’s general right to collect overtime pay for all hours worked in excess of 44 in a week unless a statutory exception applies.

The Managerial Exception

There is an exception in Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) for managers and supervisors.

Are your job duties supervisory or managerial in character and, if so, do you perform non-supervisory/managerial tasks on an irregular or exceptional basis?

When True Managers can Collect Overtime Pay

Even if you are a manager for overtime purposes under the ESA you can still claim for overtime pay if you have been asked to do a lot of non-managerial and non-supervisory duties in a particular week.

The 50% Rule

If you spend more than 50% of your job duties on non-managerial and non-managerial duties in a work week then you are generally entitled to overtime pay for all hours in excess of 44 for that week.

Lessons to be learned

If you earn a salary you may be entitled to receive overtime pay. Your job title does not determine whether you are entitled to overtime pay under the Employment Standards Act. Your actual job duties do.

For more information about Employment Standards, read here.

If you are a manager and think you should be paid overtime, and you want to speak with an employment lawyer with experience in this area, contact us at  [email protected] or 1-888-640-1728 (toll free) or 647-633-9894 (within the GTA).