When the extra hours come
Overtime in lending follows the calendar. The last three working days of each month bring disbursement and collection pushes. Quarter-end adds reconciliations and reporting. Branch audits, concurrent audits and inspections bring evenings spent preparing files. Annual closing at the end of March brings the longest days of the year for operations and accounts staff. Outside these peaks, regular late sittings usually point to a staffing gap at that branch, and HR should raise it with the area manager instead of approving overtime every week.
- Month-end: disbursement files, cash deposits, collection updates
- Quarter-end: reconciliations and regulatory reporting
- Audit days: file preparation and replies to observations
- Year-end: closing of accounts and government receipts
Who is paid overtime and at what rate
Under the OSH Code, work beyond the prescribed daily hours is overtime, paid at twice the ordinary wage rate and only with the worker's consent. Clerical, operations and support staff in a branch are the usual cases. Many lenders keep officers and managers on fixed pay outside overtime by policy, but whether a role counts as a worker depends on its duties and pay, so take advice grade by grade instead of assuming. Whatever you decide, write it into the policy, keep the consent on record and set every pay multiplier at two or above.
Worked example: quarter-end at a branch
Take an operations executive with a monthly gross of ₹24,000 and a 30-day pay basis. The gross day rate is ₹24,000 / 30 = ₹800, and the hourly rate is ₹800 / 8 = ₹100. In the last week of March she stays back on four evenings, for 1 hour 50 minutes, 1 hour 20 minutes, 2 hours 10 minutes and 1 hour 5 minutes after shift end. Rounded down to 15 minutes, these count as 1 hour 45 minutes, 1 hour 15 minutes, 2 hours and 1 hour, a total of 6 hours. At twice the rate, her overtime pay is 6 x ₹100 x 2 = ₹1,200.
Comp-off, caps and approvals
Officers who give up an audit weekend often prefer a day off later to extra pay. The overtime policy can pay out as money, as comp-off or at the employee's choice, with 4 hours earning half a day and 8 hours a full day. For staff who count as workers, keep payment at the legal rate as the default. A monthly cap keeps the numbers honest. Approval should sit with the branch manager, who knows whether the late sitting was needed, and then with HR. Decide all detected overtime before payroll runs instead of carrying it into the next month without a decision.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- Switch on the overtime policy and choose whether overtime counts beyond full-day hours or after shift end, with a minimum of 30 minutes and rounding down to 15 minutes.
- Set the pay multipliers for working days, weekly offs and holidays at two or above, and set a monthly cap that fits your quarter-end peaks.
- Choose the payout as pay, comp-off or employee's choice, with 4 hours earning half a day and 8 hours a full day of comp-off.
- Require approval, so overtime detected overnight from punches goes to the branch manager first and then HR, who can bulk approve or reject after month-end.
- Keep your list of grades eligible for overtime and the signed consent forms on file, and reject detected overtime for grades your policy excludes.
- Check that approved overtime appears as a payroll earning in the month's run, calculated at gross day rate / 8 x hours x multiplier.
Read more about overtime in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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Do bank employees get overtime pay?
It depends on the role and the policy. Employees who count as workers are paid overtime at twice the ordinary wage rate for work beyond the prescribed hours, and only with their consent. Officers and managers on fixed pay are often kept outside overtime by the bank's policy. Check each grade's duties and pay before deciding, and put the rule in writing.
How is overtime calculated for NBFC staff?
A common method takes the gross day rate, divides it by 8 for an hourly rate, then multiplies by the overtime hours and the multiplier. For a monthly gross of ₹31,200 on a 30-day basis, the day rate is ₹1,040 and the hourly rate ₹130, so 4 hours at twice the rate come to ₹1,040. Keep the multiplier at two or more.
Can overtime be given as comp-off instead of pay?
For many roles, yes. Comp-off suits officers and other staff whose overtime is a matter of company policy, especially after audit weekends. For staff who count as workers under the OSH Code, overtime is paid at twice the ordinary wage rate, so keep money as their default. ZeniaHR converts 4 hours into half a day and 8 hours into a full day of comp-off.