How an overtime claim is proved

An employee who stayed two hours late every evening for years discovers, on bringing a claim, that those hours have to be proved. The time spent at the workplace is clear enough in memory; getting it into the court file is another matter. Most overtime disputes turn not on whether the right exists but on how it is established.

What counts as overtime

As a rule, work exceeding forty-five hours a week is overtime (fazla mesai), and each hour is paid at the normal hourly rate plus fifty per cent. Where the contract sets a shorter working week, hours up to forty-five count as work in excess of contractual hours and carry a different uplift.

The employee may take time off in lieu instead of the increased rate: one hour and thirty minutes for each hour of overtime worked.

The burden lies with the employee, but not alone

The employee who asserts overtime must prove it. Proving that payment was made, on the other hand, falls to the employer. In practice this split means that once the work itself is established, an employer who cannot produce a document showing payment does not escape the claim.

The evidence used in practice:

• Workplace entry and exit records, card access or fingerprint systems
• Timesheets, shift rotas and duty lists
• Company transport routes and departure times
• Workplace email and corporate correspondence sent outside working hours
• Evidence from people who worked in the same period

The signed payroll record often decides the file

This is the point that changes outcomes most often. If the payroll record (bordro) shows an entry for overtime and the employee signed it without a reservation of rights, then for that period overtime can be proved only by written evidence; witness evidence alone does not overcome the presumption.

Where the payroll record has no overtime column at all, shows zero, or is unsigned, the employee may prove the claim by any means, witnesses included. Writing a note such as "my overtime claim is reserved" when signing keeps open a door that cannot be reopened later.

Records held by the employer

Most of the evidence sits with the employer. The employee can identify those documents in the statement of claim and ask the court to order the employer to produce them. Where a party is understood to hold a document and does not put it before the court, that conduct may be weighed in favour of accepting the other party's account. This is why the list of evidence should state concretely which record relates to which period.

Witness evidence and the discretionary reduction

Where there is no written record, witnesses are heard. Two sensitive points arise. First, evidence from a witness who has a claim of their own against the same employer is approached with caution; that does not make the evidence worthless, but support from other material is expected. Second, where the calculation rests on witness accounts alone, courts apply a discretionary reduction to allow for days not actually worked because of illness, leave or holidays. No such reduction is applied where the calculation rests on documents.

Senior managers who set their own working hours cannot as a rule claim overtime pay. Where the contract states that the wage also covers overtime, no separate payment can be claimed for the part up to the annual statutory limit.

Overtime pay is subject to a statute of limitations that runs backwards from the claim, so delay narrows the period that can be recovered.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter.