What this tool does
Section 27 of the Code on Social Security does not tell you to compute overtime one particular way. It requires the daily and the weekly computation to be made, compared, and the more favourable to the worker used. This calculator shows both routes, applies the higher, and states which one won and why. It is arithmetic run against published rule figures, not legal advice.
How it works
The four Labour Codes came into force on 21 November 2025. Under section 27 of the Code on Social Security, 2020, overtime is payable at twice the ordinary rate of wages, and the daily and weekly computations must be compared with the more favourable to the worker taken. The Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 split the triggers: more than 8 hours in a day for a daily wager, more than 48 hours in a week for other wage periods. The Factories Act 1947 carries its own triggers in sections 59, 64 and 65, and working journalists have separate 6-hour and 42-hour limits.
The fraction is rounded before it is paid, and the rounding is written in minutes: under 15 minutes pays nothing, 15 to 30 minutes pays 30 minutes, and more than 30 minutes pays a full hour. It applies to the sub-hour part of the excess so whole hours are never cut back, which is why 54 minutes pays a full hour rather than 0.9. That distinction is the classic payroll slip, because 0.9 of an hour is not under an hour and is not 0.9 of an hour's pay.
Overtime is capped at 144 hours per quarter under OSHWC, and work past that cap was done and is not payable as overtime. The Factories Act's 50-hour quarterly figure is a different thing entirely: it caps total hours worked in the quarter rather than the overtime allowance, and treating one as the other understates the problem, because the hours themselves are over the limit. Loss-of-pay proration is separate again, on a 26-day divisor rather than 30.
The state layer is where this becomes unreliable, and the tool says so rather than pretending otherwise. State Shops and Establishments Acts differ materially on daily limits, weekly limits, the overtime rate and night-shift relaxations, and they change by periodic notification. The state caps included here are a deliberately short list taken from a single law-firm compilation cross-checked against the Factories Act rather than from the bare Acts, so they are presented as needing verification, and every cap can be overridden with the figure from your own notification.
Worked example
A shop employee on a six-day week working 8.25 hours on each of Monday 7 to Saturday 12 September 2026, ordinary daily wage 600 rupees, OSHWC rules.
- Daily route: each day exceeds the 8-hour trigger by 0.25 hours, which is 15 minutes, so it rounds up to 30 minutes payable per day, and 6 days give 3.00 payable hours
- Weekly route: 6 x 8.25 = 49.5 hours against the 48-hour weekly trigger gives 1.5 payable hours
- At twice the ordinary rate, 600 x 2 = 1,200 rupees an hour, so the daily route is 3,600 rupees and the weekly route is 1,800 rupees
- Section 27 takes whichever is more favourable to the worker, so the daily route applies at 3,600 rupees
3,600 rupees of overtime on the daily route rather than 1,800 on the weekly route, because the 15-minute rounding is applied six times over instead of once.
Accuracy and limitations
- Not legal advice. The statutory figures are dated and attributed, but the state cap table comes from a single secondary compilation and needs verifying against the current notification for your establishment.
- The weekly route pays the same hourly rate as the daily route so the comparison is like for like. Whether the ordinary weekly wage is the daily wage times six depends on your establishment's working pattern, which this tool cannot know.
- Night shift differentials are jurisdiction-specific and are not computed here. Working journalists have their own 5.5-hour night limit excluding meal time, which is checked when the night column is used.
Frequently asked questions
- Is overtime really paid at twice the ordinary rate?
- Yes, under section 27 of the Code on Social Security for establishments covered by the Codes, and under section 59 of the Factories Act 1947 for factories. State Shops and Establishments Acts also generally require a higher rate, though the exact multiplier and the daily limit differ from state to state.
- Why does 54 minutes of overtime pay a full hour?
- Because the rounding rule is written in minutes: 15 to 30 minutes pays 30 minutes and more than 30 minutes pays a full hour. It is applied to the sub-hour part of the excess, so 54 minutes is 54 minutes and rounds up to 60, and under 15 minutes pays nothing at all.
- What is the overtime limit in a quarter?
- OSHWC caps overtime at 144 hours per quarter, and work beyond that cap is not payable as overtime even though it was worked. That is different from a state figure that caps total hours worked in a week or a quarter, where the hours themselves are outside the limit rather than merely unpaid.
- How much is one day of pay for loss of pay?
- Loss of pay is prorated on 26 days rather than 30, so one LOP day on a 26,000 rupee salary is 1,000 rupees. The divisor is deliberately not used in the overtime arithmetic, and switching between a 26-day and a 30-day divisor between months changes every deduction without changing anyone's salary.
- My state has different limits. Which figures do I use?
- Your state's Shops and Establishments Act governs, and the state figures in this tool come from a single law-firm compilation rather than the bare Act, so treat them as unverified. Every cap is overridable: enter the figure from your own notification and that is the number the calculation will use.