Calculate overtime pay in Denmark from your normal and actual working hours: 50% for the first 3 hours and 100% after, as in Danish collective agreements (overenskomster) – or your own limits and rates, including work before your start time.
Danish rules
This calculator applies Danish law and Danish collective agreements. It is for employment in Denmark and does not reflect the rules of other countries.
Fill in the times and press Calculate to see the overtime.
The overtime calculator works out the overtime for one working day under the rules used in Denmark. You enter your normal working hours, when you actually started and finished, and optionally your hourly rate. The calculator finds the overtime hours before your start time and after finishing time and adds the supplement step by step: by default 50% for the first 3 hours and 100% thereafter, as in many Danish collective agreements (overenskomster).
You can adjust the limit and the rates yourself to match your collective agreement (overenskomst) or employment contract. If your agreement pays a different rate for work before your normal start time – for example 100% from the first hour – you can give those hours a rate of their own.
Overtime at 50% is paid as hourly rate × 1.5, and overtime at 100% as hourly rate × 2. The steps are applied one after the other: with 4 overtime hours, the first 3 hours get 50% and only the fourth gets 100%. That gives 3 × 1.5 + 1 × 2 = 6.5 hours of pay – not 4 × 2 = 8 hours.
| Overtime hours | Calculation | Paid as |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 × 1.5 | 1.5 h |
| 2 | 2 × 1.5 | 3 h |
| 3 | 3 × 1.5 | 4.5 h |
| 4 | 3 × 1.5 + 1 × 2 | 6.5 h |
| 5 | 3 × 1.5 + 2 × 2 | 8.5 h |
| 6 | 3 × 1.5 + 3 × 2 | 10.5 h |
With the standard steps: 50% for the first 3 hours, then 100%. Multiply »Paid as« by the hourly rate to get the amount in Danish kroner (DKK).
Normal working hours 07:00–15:00, finished at 19:00. A monthly salary of DKK 35,000 gives an hourly rate of 35,000 ÷ 160.33 = DKK 218.30.
3 hours × 1.5 + 1 hour × 2 = 6.5 hours × DKK 218.30.
Normal working hours 07:00–15:00, started at 05:00 and finished at 17:00. Hourly rate DKK 218.30.
Before start time: 2 hours × 2 = 4 hours. After finishing time: 2 hours × 1.5 = 3 hours. In total 7 hours × DKK 218.30.
As above, but without a separate rate before start time. The 4 overtime hours go through one set of steps: 3 × 1.5 + 1 × 2 = 6.5 hours.
With a separate rate before start time it was 7 hours. The difference grows the more hours fall before start time: 3 hours before and 1 after gives 7.5 hours against 6.5 in one set of steps.
Normal working hours 07:24–15:00, finished at 18:51. The overtime is 3 hours and 51 minutes = 3.85 hours.
Rounded up to each half hour begun, it becomes 4 hours: 3 × 1.5 + 1 × 2.
A spreadsheet that picks one rate from the total number of overtime hours pays too much: 4 hours become 8 hours of pay instead of 6.5. Calculate each step separately.
Overtime pay is typically only due for overtime ordered by the employer (beordret overarbejde). Make it clear who can order overtime, and give notice the day before where possible.
Long days must still comply with the 11-hour rest rule (11 timers reglen) and the average of 48 hours a week.
Write down when you started and finished, and who asked you to stay. Without documentation, overtime is hard to claim afterwards.
If your pay is agreed as an all-inclusive salary (funktionsløn), it can cover overtime so that nothing extra is paid. Check your contract.
The calculator does not know time-of-day rules such as 100% between midnight and 06:00 or on Sundays and public holidays (helligdage). In that case, set the rate to 100% from the first hour.
Content last reviewed October 2026.