Unpaid overtime usually comes with a reason attached: you’re on salary, you’re a “manager”, you chose to stay late, you agreed to it. Some of those reasons hold up under employment standards law and many don’t. This page covers how to test the employer’s reason, work out what you’re owed and claim it. More on your rights at work is on the workplace rights and employee benefits hub.
The short answer
Check whether your job is actually exempt, count the hours past your province’s threshold, and ask the employer in writing for the overtime premium on those hours. If they won’t pay, unpaid overtime can be claimed through employment standards like any other unpaid wages.
How overtime works, in brief
Each province sets its own overtime threshold. Ontario’s is weekly: “For most employees … overtime begins after they have worked 44 hours in a work week”, and “Overtime pay is 1½ times the employee’s regular rate of pay.” Other provinces use a 40-hour week, and some add a daily threshold. The threshold and rate for every province, BC’s double-time rule, banked time and the jobs that are exempt are all on the overtime pay rules by province.
The employer’s reason, and whether it holds up
| What the employer says | How it usually holds up |
|---|---|
| “You’re salaried, so no overtime” | Being paid a salary doesn’t by itself remove overtime; the exemptions depend on the job, not how you are paid |
| “Your job title is manager” | A title isn’t enough. In Ontario, managers and supervisors are exempt “if the work they do is managerial or supervisory”, so the duties decide |
| “We give comp time instead” | Allowed in some provinces under an agreement. In Ontario it has to be agreed electronically or in writing, at 1½ hours off for each overtime hour |
| “You stayed late on your own” | If the employer knew you were working the hours and let you, they are generally hours worked |
| “You agreed to work extra hours” | Agreeing to work the hours is not the same as giving up the pay for them; minimum standards generally can’t be waived by agreement |
If you were told you’re a contractor rather than an employee, overtime rules may still apply: the status test is on employee vs contractor status, and the claim is on what to do if you were misclassified as a contractor.
Working out what you’re owed
For each week (or day, where your province has a daily threshold), take the hours past the threshold and multiply them by your regular hourly rate times 1.5. If you’re on salary, your regular rate comes from the salary and the non-overtime hours it pays for: in Ontario’s worked example, a $950 weekly salary divided by 44 hours. The overtime calculator does a single week for you.
Example (Ontario). You earn $20 an hour and worked 48 hours in one week. Past the 44-hour threshold that is 4 overtime hours. At 1.5 times your rate, the overtime rate is $30.00 an hour, so the week’s overtime pay is $120.00. If the same thing happened in 20 weeks, the total is $2,400.00.
The proof is in your records: shift schedules, timesheets, emails or messages sent late, building or system log-ins, and your pay stubs showing the hours you were actually paid for. A simple log of start and end times, kept as you go, carries weight if the employer’s own records are thin.
Asking for it
Write to your manager or payroll with the weeks in question, the hours past the threshold in each, the rate you used and the total. Ask for payment by a set date. If the employer gives a reason for not paying, the table above is the place to start checking it.
Claiming it
If the employer won’t pay, you can file a claim with your province’s employment standards office, or with the federal Labour Program if your employer is federally regulated. How far back a claim can reach depends on the province: the deadlines, recovery periods and the process are on the guide to filing an employment standards complaint. Suing in small claims court is the main alternative, covered on what to do when your employer hasn’t paid you.
If other money is missing too, such as vacation pay your employer owes you, include it in the same claim.
Questions about unpaid overtime
Does overtime apply if I’m salaried? Often, yes. Ontario’s guide says “A fixed salary compensates an employee for all non-overtime hours up to and including 44 hours a week. After 44 hours, the employee is entitled to overtime pay.” Whether you’re exempt depends on your duties, as in the table above.
My employer pays overtime only after 8 hours a day. Is that right? It depends on the province. Ontario’s guide says that unless a contract or collective agreement provides it, “an employee does not earn overtime pay on a daily basis”, while provinces with a daily threshold pay overtime on both. The overtime rules page has each province’s thresholds.
I quit or was let go. Can I still claim unpaid overtime? Yes. A claim can be made after the job ends, as long as it’s filed within your province’s deadline. If you’re leaving because of unpaid wages, the Record of Employment page covers what to do if the employer also holds back your ROE, and how to apply for EI covers the claim itself.
Related reading
- Overtime pay rules in Canada by province
- Overtime calculator
- How to file an employment standards complaint
- My employer is not paying CPP or EI
- Workplace rights and employee benefits in Canada
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