Pitch nights: record them even if you do not pay them
A pitch can mean five nights past midnight for a team of six. Even if the agency gives comp-off rather than pay, record the hours: punches show who stayed, the overnight check in ZeniaHR turns the extra time into overtime lines, and the approval step lets the creative director confirm the hours were real. The record also answers a question agencies rarely ask out loud, which is what a pitch actually costs in people's time, and whether the account was worth it.
Shoot days and the legal rate
Production staff on a 14-hour shoot day have worked well beyond the ordinary eight hours. The OSH Code treats hours past the prescribed limit as overtime: the worker must agree, and the pay is double the normal wage rate for any role the rules cover. Spread-over and weekly limits are fixed by government notification, so a run of long shoot days needs checking against them. Set every multiplier in ZeniaHR, working day, weekly off and holiday, at 2 or above, and see the overtime rules for the limits.
Worked example: a junior editor's shoot day
Rohan is a junior video editor with a monthly gross of ₹31,200. His company divides gross by 26 to get a day rate of ₹1,200, which makes his hourly rate ₹150. He works a shoot from 7 am to 9 pm, 14 hours, with an hour of breaks, so 13 working hours. If the overtime policy counts time beyond 8 full-day hours, he has 5 hours of overtime. Paid at double rate, those 5 hours come to ₹150 x 5 x 2 = ₹1,500. If the policy gives comp-off instead, 5 hours earns half a day, since a full day needs 8.
Comp-off, pay and the cap by role
Write the rule by role. A common pattern: creative and account staff take comp-off for weekend and holiday work, production crews and junior staff can choose pay or comp-off, and senior leadership sits outside hourly overtime. ZeniaHR's overtime policy can pay out as pay, comp-off or the employee's choice; pick the setting that matches your written rule. A monthly cap per person turns endless pitch seasons into a visible number, which is often the first time an agency sees that the same three people carried every pitch this quarter.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- Turn overtime on and measure extra time beyond full-day hours, so shoot days and pitch nights are captured.
- Set the payout to match your written rule: comp-off, pay or the employee's choice.
- Enter 2 or more as the multiplier on all three day types: working day, weekly off and holiday.
- Require approval from the creative director or producer before HR, and bulk approve after pitch weeks.
- Set a monthly cap per person and review who reaches it after every pitch season.
Read more about overtime in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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Do advertising agencies pay overtime?
Practices vary by role. Creative and account staff are often given comp-off for weekend and holiday work, while production crews and junior staff may be paid. Where a role falls under the OSH Code's overtime rule, extra hours need the worker's consent and cost twice the ordinary wage rate. Put the agency's rule in writing and apply it consistently.
How is comp-off calculated for a pitch weekend?
Add up the hours worked on each weekly off, then convert them. In ZeniaHR, overtime taken as comp-off turns 4 hours into half a day and 8 hours into a full day, so 9 hours on Saturday and 5 on Sunday give 1.5 days. Each credit carries an expiry date that the employee can see in My Self-Service.
How long can a shoot day legally be?
Ordinary work is capped at eight hours a day under the OSH Code. Time beyond the prescribed hours is overtime, which the crew member must agree to and which earns twice the ordinary wage rate. Spread-over and weekly limits are fixed by government notification, so check the notified limits for your state before planning back-to-back long shoot days.