Where the surges come from
Each surge has a different owner. Policy issuance teams face the year-end logjam of proposals and medical reports. Renewal teams run late during drives before large renewal dates. Claims teams face the hardest surges after natural calamities, when surveys, documents and settlements arrive in one fortnight and customers are waiting to repair homes and vehicles. Plan each surge as a project with a start date, an end date and a named approver for overtime.
- Year-end: proposals, medical reports and policy issuance
- Renewal drives: reminder calls and payment follow-ups
- Catastrophe claims after floods, cyclones and hailstorms
- System migrations: data checks and parallel runs
Counting and approving the hours
Let the punches do the counting. Overtime can start after the shift ends or after full-day hours, with a minimum of 30 minutes before anything counts and rounding down to 15 minutes. Detected overtime goes to the team manager, who knows whether the backlog justified it, and then to HR. During a surge, bulk approval saves the manager an hour of clicking at month-end, but anything outside the surge dates deserves a second look before it is approved.
Worked example: a claims processor after a flood
A claims processor earns a monthly gross of ₹23,400 on a 26-day basis, so the gross day rate is ₹900 and the hourly rate ₹112.50. In the fortnight after a flood she works 5 extra hours across weekdays, paid at a multiplier of 2, and 6 hours on a weekly off, paid at 2.5 under the company's policy. Weekday overtime is 5 x ₹112.50 x 2 = ₹1,125. Weekly off overtime is 6 x ₹112.50 x 2.5 = ₹1,687.50. Her overtime earning for the month is ₹2,812.50.
Rate, consent and the monthly cap
The OSH Code sets the overtime rate at twice the ordinary wage and makes the worker's consent a condition. Keep every multiplier at two or above, and record consent before a surge rather than after it. A monthly cap protects people from burning out on a long claims backlog; when the cap is reached, the answer is temporary staff or help from another region, not unpaid hours. Underwriters and managers who are outside overtime by policy can take comp-off once the surge ends.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- Switch on the overtime policy, counting from shift end for claims and issuance teams, with a 30-minute minimum and rounding down to 15 minutes.
- Keep all three multipliers, working day, weekly off and holiday, at two or higher, and set a monthly cap per employee.
- Require approval, so overtime detected from punches goes to the team manager and then to HR.
- During a surge, bulk approve overtime that falls within the surge dates and review anything outside them individually.
- Choose pay as the overtime payout, and let HR grant comp-off from worked weekly offs to officers who are outside overtime by policy.
- In the payroll run, confirm each approved claim has become an overtime earning, worked out as gross day rate / 8 x hours x multiplier.
Read more about overtime in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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Is overtime paid to insurance employees?
Yes for staff who count as workers: hours beyond the prescribed limit earn twice the ordinary wage rate, and they work those hours only with their consent. Claims processors, issuance and service staff are the usual cases. Managers and underwriters are often outside overtime by policy and receive comp-off instead. Check each role's duties and pay before deciding.
How do insurers handle overtime after floods or cyclones?
They treat the claims surge as a project with fixed dates, count hours from punches, approve overtime through the team manager and HR, and cap it per month. When the cap is reached, they bring in help from other regions or temporary staff rather than letting hours go unpaid.
What is the overtime rate in India?
Twice the ordinary wage rate. The OSH Code treats work beyond the prescribed hours as overtime, which a worker does only by consent. An employer may pay a higher multiplier, for example on weekly offs or holidays, but never less than double. ZeniaHR lets you set separate multipliers for working days, weekly offs and holidays.