Overtime management for FMCG distributors

Who works overtime, and when

Salesmen are the hard case. Their day is spent in the market, and the time they punch out can say more about when they remembered to punch than about when they stopped working. Decide in the policy whether field sales staff earn overtime from punches or are rewarded through incentives, and check who counts as a worker under the OSH Code before you exclude any role. For everyone else on the list below, punches tell the story well.

• Billing operators in the last week of the month
• Loaders unloading company trucks that arrive late
• Delivery drivers and helpers on long or double routes
• The cashier settling late collections
• The whole godown during festival stocking weeks

₹412.50 for one late truck

Start from the answer and work back. Sanjay, a loader, earns ₹412.50 of overtime for unloading a late truck. His monthly gross is ₹14,300 and the distributor uses a 26-day month, so his day rate is ₹550 and his hourly rate ₹68.75. The truck reached the godown at 4:30 pm, half an hour before his 5 pm shift end, and he punched out at 8:05 pm, 3 hours 5 minutes after the shift. Rounding down to the quarter hour leaves exactly 3 hours, and ₹68.75 x 3 x 2 gives the ₹412.50 on his payslip.

Approval the next morning

Overtime in ZeniaHR is detected overnight from the punches, with anything under 30 minutes ignored and the rest rounded down to the quarter hour. The godown in-charge or sales supervisor decides each claim in My Team the next morning, while the night is fresh, and HR decides after them. At month end, HR can bulk approve the remaining claims, filtering by department. Approved hours then post to payroll as an earning: the gross day rate divided by 8, times the hours, times the multiplier.

Caps, comp-off and the month-end habit

If the same billing operator works three hours of overtime every night for the last ten days of every month, overtime has become the plan. Put a monthly ceiling on each person's overtime hours, and when the same people hit it every month, add a second billing operator for the last week instead of stretching the first. Comp-off is available as a payout, converting 4 hours into half a day and 8 into a whole day, and it suits godown staff who can take the day in the quiet first half of the month; whatever the payout, keep every multiplier at 2 or above.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Switch on the overtime policy, count after shift end, and make the reporting manager's approval compulsory.
2. Let the 30-minute minimum absorb a van that returns a few minutes late, and round the rest down to 15 minutes.
3. Start working day, weekly off and holiday multipliers at 2, and cap overtime hours per person each month.
4. Choose pay, comp-off or employee's choice for the payout, depending on whether staff want days off in the quiet weeks.
5. Ask supervisors to decide claims in My Team each morning, and let HR clear the rest in bulk by department before payroll.

Read more about overtime in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions