Reviewed August 2026

The settlement period: when your employer has to close your hours

Hours are not balanced week by week but over a window your employer chose — one, three or four months. Knowing which window you are in tells you when overtime stops being "we will sort it out" and becomes money owed.

The limits that hold whatever the schedule

Eight hours a day, and an average of forty hours a week over the settlement period.
Including overtime, the average week cannot exceed forty-eight hours across that period.
At least eleven uninterrupted hours of rest after every working day.
At least thirty-five uninterrupted hours of rest in every week.

What the window actually is

A settlement period is the stretch at the end of which the employer adds your hours up and compares them with the norm. One month is the default; three and four months are common on shift work, and longer periods exist but need justification.

Inside the window, hours can be uneven — a heavy week followed by a light one balances out and produces no overtime. That is the point of the system, and it is legal. What is not legal is the window never closing.

When the window closes, the arithmetic is fixed

At the end of the period the employer settles the balance. Hours above the norm are overtime and carry a supplement — 50% on an ordinary day, 100% at night, on a Sunday, a public holiday or a day that was your day off.

Time off in lieu is allowed instead of the supplement. It does not remove your ordinary pay for the hour you worked: you are owed the hour either way, and the argument is only about the supplement on top.

A period that never ends is the tell. If overtime keeps being carried into the next window and never settles, the balance is not being kept — it is being avoided. Ask in writing which settlement period applies to you; it is in the work regulations and you are entitled to know.

Common questions

How do I find out my settlement period?

It is set in the work regulations or the collective agreement, and the employer must make those available to you. Asking in writing is reasonable and creates a record of when you asked.

Can hours just roll over forever?

No. The whole purpose of the period is that it ends and the balance is struck. Rolling a surplus into the next window indefinitely is how overtime quietly disappears.

I was given a day off instead of pay. Is that legal?

For the supplement, yes. If you asked for the time off yourself you get one hour off per overtime hour; if the employer decided, the rate is more favourable to you. Your ordinary pay for the hour worked stays due regardless.

Does the 48-hour ceiling apply to each week?

It is an average across the settlement period, not a hard cap on every single week. A single week can exceed it as long as the average over the whole window does not.

This page explains the general rules and is not legal advice. Your contract, collective agreement or work regulations may set terms more favourable than the statutory minimum. For a dispute, the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) advises workers free of charge.