Free overtime tracker template (Excel)
Track hours worked beyond the contract, per person, week by week. Apply your own premium multiplier, keep a running total, and see the pattern that holiday pay depends on.
Overtime tracker
Excel format (.xlsx) • Ready to download
No signup required. Works with Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice.
This template is a record-keeping tool, not legal or payroll advice. It does not calculate minimum wage, holiday pay or statutory sick pay for you, and it does not check working time limits. Check GOV.UK, or take advice, before relying on a spreadsheet for compliance. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Roster and track hours in one place
A timesheet only records what already happened. Roster the shifts first and the hours record themselves — free, no signup.
What's in this template
Overtime as a pattern, not just a weekly number
One block per employee
Contracted weekly hours set once per person, then a row per week beneath.
Automatic overtime split
Hours above the contracted figure are calculated, not typed — so the split cannot be fudged by rounding.
A premium multiplier column
Set 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0 per row. There is no statutory premium in the UK, so the rate is yours to define.
TOIL banked and taken
Two columns tracking time off in lieu, with a live balance — unbanked TOIL is a liability nobody has written down.
A rolling 12-week total
The running figure that shows whether overtime is occasional or has quietly become part of normal pay.
Estimated cost per week
Hours times rate times multiplier, so the overtime bill is visible while it is still a decision.
How overtime is tracked
Contracted hours are set once per person. Everything above that is overtime, split out automatically. The multiplier is whatever your contracts say — the UK has no statutory overtime premium at all.
| Week | Contracted | Worked | Overtime | Multiplier | Paid as |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| w/c 5 Jan | 37.5 | 41.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 5.25 |
| w/c 12 Jan | 37.5 | 37.5 | 0.0 | — | 0.00 |
| w/c 19 Jan | 37.5 | 46.0 | 8.5 | 1.5 | 12.75 |
| 12-week total | 34.0 | 51.00 |
The blue running total is the number that matters most. Overtime worked with that regularity normally has to be included in holiday pay for the first four weeks of statutory leave — a fact that is invisible if you only ever look at one week at a time.
How to track overtime in Excel
Four steps if you would rather build your own
1. Set contracted hours
One figure per person. Everything else on the sheet is measured against it, so get it from the contract rather than from habit.
2. Calculate, do not type, the overtime
Use `=MAX(0,worked-contracted)` so a short week shows zero rather than a negative that quietly offsets a long one.
3. Add the multiplier
A column for the premium, applied per row. Different rates for weekends or bank holidays sit naturally here.
4. Add a rolling total
A 12-week running sum per person. This is the figure that tells you whether overtime has become part of normal pay.
The template has all four, plus the TOIL balance and the weekly cost estimate.
Who uses this template
UK employers where hours regularly run past the contract
Hospitality
Late finishes and covering a no-show, week after week, in a sector where it is normalised.
Care and healthcare
Handovers and short-notice cover, where TOIL is often used instead of pay and rarely tracked.
Trades and construction
Weather-driven weeks that swing between short and very long.
Overtime is only half the picture — the staff hours tracker shows the same hours against the 48-hour average.
Or see overtime before it happens
A tracker tells you what overtime cost last week. RosterElf flags a shift that would push someone past their contracted hours while you are still building the rota, and warns as anyone approaches the 48-hour average.
Overtime, pay and holiday
What a pattern of overtime obliges you to do
Overtime and unsocial hours pay
There is no statutory overtime premium in the UK — here is what actually governs the rate.
Read the guideHow to calculate holiday pay
Why regular overtime has to be counted, and how the reference period works.
Read the guideNational Minimum Wage rates
Current rates by age, and how an underpayment is calculated and settled.
Read the guideDefinitions worth having
Terms that come up on an overtime sheet
TOIL (time off in lieu)
Banking extra hours as time rather than pay, and where that goes wrong.
See the definitionReference period
The rolling window the 48-hour average and holiday pay are measured across.
See the definitionRolled-up holiday pay
The 12.07% uplift, and which workers it is now lawful for.
See the definitionOvertime tracker FAQ
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No. There is no statutory overtime premium in the UK. Time-and-a-half and double time exist only where a contract, handbook or collective agreement provides for them. The one hard rule is that total pay divided by total hours must not fall below the minimum wage for the worker’s age — £12.71 for 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20, and £8.00 for under-18s and eligible apprentices from 1 April 2026.
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Regularly worked overtime normally has to be included when calculating holiday pay for the first four weeks of statutory leave, whether or not it is guaranteed. Genuinely occasional overtime usually does not. The rolling total in this template exists to tell those two apart — see our holiday pay guide.
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Only if the contract provides for it, and even then the Working Time Regulations still apply: the 48-hour weekly average cannot be exceeded without a signed, voluntary, individual opt-out that the worker can withdraw on notice. A blanket opt-out in a handbook is not one.
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Time off in lieu is extra hours banked as time rather than paid. Track it as two columns — banked and taken — with a live balance, which is what this template does. Untracked TOIL is a real liability: it is owed, it accrues quietly, and it usually surfaces when someone leaves. See our TOIL definition.
Before you download
General information only — not legal advice
This document is a general HR template provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the latest changes in legislation or apply to every workplace situation. RosterElf Pty Ltd and the template provider accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this document. Users should seek independent legal advice and customise the template to ensure it complies with all relevant laws and workplace requirements.