Time Off in Lieu When Working Additional Hours

Taking time off if you have worked overtime or additional hours is a common practice and is often referred to as ‘TOIL’ – time off in lieu.

TOIL is especially common in highly paid roles where the employee in question is often likely to appreciate the time off rather than additional money. However, regardless of the position or seniority of the employee, TOIL must be agreed in writing by the employee and the employer. It cannot be assumed or enforced by either side, which is important to note if you are being expected to work overtime and are being given TOIL or money when you would prefer the opposite.

EU Working Time Directive

It is worth noting that there is actually no legal right to be paid for extra hours worked, with no minimum overtime entitlement, although payment must not be less than the Minimum Wage. TOIL is part of the EU Working Time Directive, of which a central theme is that no employee can be made to work more than 48 hours a week without prior written agreement.

If there is such prior written agreement, signed by both the employee and the employer, the method of either payment or TOIL can be agreed between both parties. Many companies will have their own rules, which must be set out in the employers' handbook or be available from your HR department. For specific TOIL rules, companies will either have a set company stance (this need not be the same for everyone, although should be for people on the same grade/level/job title etc) or confirm it on a case-by-case basis.

Contract Clauses

To avoid workers simply taking loads of time to do something that they should be able to do comfortably within their working week, or to avoid workers having weeks of extra holiday available (which can cause staffing issues and/or operational issues) the written agreements usually included clauses.

Such clauses are usually related to how many additional days can be accrued and when these additional days must be taken by, such as ‘no more than three days can be rolled-over into the following year’ or ‘no more than one day each month can be accrued through TOIL’. Again, these clauses must be open and approved by both parties.

Time off in lieu of working additional hours is both a popular and common way to reward extra hours, although companies tend to prefer this when there is someone else to cover your work while you are taking your time off, or if the time can be taken at a reasonable time that will not affect the business, such as between Christmas and New Year.

Check Your Contract

As the employee, it is important that you make yourself aware of your Employment Contract. As the employer, you must ensure you are clear about what you are offering to workers that work more than their agreed hours. It is terribly frustrating to think that you will get more in your pay packet after a bumper month's work only to be given extra holiday that you don’t really want, or to be thinking that you’ll be able to take an extended holiday from all the TOIL accrued to be told that you have lost your entitlement because you did not take it in time. Check your employment contract and clarify it with HR.