Workforce management · Overtime
Overtime tracking software: every hour recorded from request to approval
Overtime is not written into a manager’s notebook afterwards; it starts with the employee’s request, linked to the shift record currently open, and is confirmed by an authorised person’s approval. An approval that would exceed 270 hours a year, or one for an employee whose overtime consent is not on record, is not accepted by the system.
Where do overtime disputes start?
Most overtime disputes come not from the amount but from the record: who worked, on which day, for how many hours, and who approved it? If the record is written at month end from a manager’s memory, both the under-recorded employee and the colleague thought to be favoured will object.
In this overtime tracking software, overtime is recorded while it is being worked: the request is linked to the shift record currently open and is stored with the approver’s name, the time of approval and the premium amount at the time of approval. Later corrections also leave a trail. In a dispute, the answer to “when, and on whose approval, was this hour recorded?” is already in the record.
This page covers the overtime process: request, approval and statutory limits. How approved hours enter the timesheet at month end and reach your accountant is on the timesheets page; calculating pay by hand is covered in the overtime calculation guide.
Overtime tracking: four steps from request to approval
The employee requests
The request is opened from the employee’s own phone, linked to the shift record currently open. It shows the premium amount in lira and the option of time off instead of pay.
Pre-approval
With two-stage approval on, the team lead gives pre-approval. Nobody can approve their own request.
Final approval
An authorised manager gives final approval; the same person cannot give both stages. The approval is recorded with the premium amount at the time of approval.
Posted to the timesheet
Approved hours appear in the timesheet as an overtime line; approvals and rejections are both recorded with who and when.
Which approvals does the system stop?
Statutory limits are checked at approval; an action that would breach them is not saved, and an exception is flagged separately.
| Situation | Basis (Türkiye) | System behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Approval that would exceed 270 hours a year | Labour Act art. 41 | Not accepted; the annual total is tracked |
| Employee’s overtime consent not on record | Labour Act art. 41 · Overtime Regulation art. 9 | Overtime cannot be approved |
| Compelling reasons or emergency | Labour Act art. 42, 43 | No consent needed; the record is flagged separately and the person entering it leaves a trail |
| Overtime on a night shift | Overtime Regulation art. 7 | Stopped at the request stage |
| Approving your own request | Internal segregation of duties | Not possible |
| One person giving both stages | Internal segregation of duties | Not possible |
Statutory calculations make recording and arithmetic easier; the legal obligation remains with the employer.
How is the 270-hour annual cap tracked?
Total overtime may not exceed 270 hours a year (Labour Act art. 41). The cap applies per employee, and so does the counter.
- Every approval goes into the counter — approved overtime hours are added to the employee’s annual total; the total is checked before every approval.
- An approval that would exceed it stops — a request that would take the employee past 270 hours if approved is not accepted. The breach is stopped before it becomes a matter for administrative penalties.
- Work beyond contractual hours is counted separately — for an employee contracted for less than 45 hours a week, the excess up to 45 hours is work beyond contractual hours at a 25% premium and does not count towards the 270-hour cap.
- Make-up work is not overtime — by law, make-up work is not overtime (art. 64); keep it separate so it does not use up the counter.
Why is the employee’s overtime consent kept on record?
Overtime and work beyond contractual hours require the employee’s written consent. Under art. 9 of the Regulation on Overtime and Work beyond Contractual Hours, the employer obtains it when the employment contract is made or when the need arises and keeps it in the personnel file; the employee may withdraw it with thirty days’ written notice.
The system does not create consent, it records it: if no consent is on record, that employee’s overtime cannot be approved (except for compelling reasons). Giving or withdrawing consent is also recorded. For paper consent there is a free overtime consent form template.
What do managers and employees see?
Stage of the request
Employees follow on the phone whether their request is at pre-approval, final approval or rejected.
Premium pay
Work over 45 hours a week carries a 50% premium; work above the contractual hours up to 45 hours a 25% premium (art. 41); the request shows the amount in lira.
Time off in lieu
If the employee wishes, they choose time off instead of premium pay: 1 hour 30 minutes for each hour of overtime (art. 41/4).
Cost analysis
Managers follow the cost of approved overtime; the amount is recorded with the premium at the time of approval.
Holiday clock-ins
Clock-ins on weekly rest days and public holidays are not blocked; the employee is asked, the manager is notified, and it becomes a separate timesheet line.
Audit trail
Approvals and changes are kept with who and when; overtime and public holiday work reports are available as PDF, CSV and Excel.
Overtime or work beyond contractual hours?
Both go through the same request screen, but the law treats them differently; the system keeps them apart.
| Overtime | Work beyond contractual hours | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Work over 45 hours a week | Work above a contractual week set below 45 hours, up to 45 hours |
| Premium | 50% | 25% |
| Time off in lieu | 1 hour 30 minutes per hour | 1 hour 15 minutes per hour |
| 270-hour annual cap | Counts | Does not count |
| Employee’s written consent | Required | Required |
Basis: Labour Act art. 41 and Overtime Regulation art. 9. The law requires time off in lieu to be given within six months (art. 41).
Who may not be asked to work overtime?
As important as the consent rule are the employees from whom consent cannot be sought at all (Overtime Regulation art. 8).
- Employees under 18.
- Pregnant employees, employees who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding.
- Employees on part-time contracts — they may not be asked to work beyond contractual hours either.
- Employees whose health is shown by a doctor’s report not to permit it.
- In addition, for each employee who works overtime a document showing the hours worked is drawn up and a signed copy is kept in the personnel file (Regulation art. 10).
Three blind spots of tracking overtime in a spreadsheet
The record is written afterwards. Overtime usually goes into the spreadsheet at the end of the week or month, from someone’s memory. When it is disputed who worked how many hours on which day, the spreadsheet has nothing behind it.
The annual total sits in another file. The 270-hour cap is per employee and per year; in monthly sheets the total is only visible when someone puts the months side by side. The cap is often noticed only after it has been exceeded.
It is unclear who approved. The person who asked for the overtime, approved it and recorded it may be the same. In this overtime tracking software nobody can approve their own request, and in two-stage approval the same person cannot give both stages.
Where overtime builds up
Overtime builds up most around deliveries, dispatches and production peaks; sector pages explain how the system is set up there.
Manufacturing
Three shifts, the night-shift limit, two-stage overtime approval and tracking of the 270-hour annual cap.
ViewWarehouse and logistics
The overtime limit on dispatch nights and how the night shift is counted.
ViewFurniture workshops
Evening work in delivery week is recorded through a request linked to the open shift; the request shows the premium amount in lira.
ViewWhere does approved overtime go at month end?
Approved hours appear in the timesheet as an overtime line; work on weekly rest days and public holidays are separate lines, and the extra day’s pay for public holiday work (art. 47) is not an overtime premium and does not use up the 270-hour counter. Once approved, the month is locked and a payroll input package (CSV and PDF) goes to your accountant; the pay itself is calculated in your accountant’s software.
In other words, the process on this page makes sure the record is created correctly, and the timesheets page makes sure it is carried correctly at month end. Both use the same data; overtime is entered once.
Sources
The article references in this guide are based on these official texts (in Turkish). Legislation can change; check the current text before acting.
Overtime tracking software — frequently asked questions
Can a manager record overtime without the employee requesting it?
Planned overtime starts with a request from the employee’s own phone, linked to the shift record currently open; this prevents records written afterwards where it is unclear who worked. Records for compelling reasons or emergencies are flagged separately and the person entering them leaves a trail.
What happens when an employee is close to 270 hours a year?
Before every approval the employee’s annual overtime total is checked; a request that would take them past 270 hours if approved is not accepted. Work beyond contractual hours (above the contractual week, up to 45 hours) does not count towards this cap.
What if the employee has not given overtime consent?
That employee’s overtime request cannot be approved; compelling reasons and emergencies are the exception (Labour Law No. 4857 art. 42, 43). Under art. 9 of the Overtime Regulation consent is given in writing and kept in the personnel file; the system records whether it is on file.
Who can approve overtime?
The authorised manager set by the company. With two-stage approval on, the team or department head gives pre-approval and the authorised manager final approval, and the same person cannot give both. The person who opened the request cannot approve it, even if they are a manager; every approval is kept with who and when.
How is it recorded if the employee chooses time off instead of premium pay?
The employee makes the choice in the request and it is recorded with the approval. Each hour of overtime earns 1 hour 30 minutes of time off, each hour of work beyond contractual hours 1 hour 15 minutes; the law requires the time off to be given within six months (Labour Law No. 4857 art. 41).
Can an employee on a night shift request overtime?
A request for overtime that cannot be worked on a night shift is stopped at the request stage; overtime may not be worked in jobs carried out during the night period (Overtime Regulation art. 7). Overtime added on to a day job, however, may run into the night period.
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