A 12-hour weekday at €18: how the €270 example works

State the assumptions before calculating

This example assumes 12 hours of working time after unpaid breaks, an €18 hourly calculation basis, and eight regular hours. The following two hours receive a 50% increase and the final two a 100% increase. It excludes other supplements, weekly adjustments and expense reimbursements. Overtime classification also depends on the employer’s initiative and the applicable working-time arrangement.

The calculation is 8 × €18 = €144, plus 2 × €27 = €54, plus 2 × €36 = €72. The total is €270 gross. Equivalently, all 12 hours earn €216 in basic pay and the overtime increases add €54. These are two presentations of the same result; do not add both totals together.

Build the 12 hours from clock times

A shift from 07:00 to 19:30 lasts 12 hours 30 minutes. If 12:00–12:30 is an unpaid break, working time is 12 hours. Entering the whole span as paid work would give €288 under this example’s daily model: €144 + €54 + 2.5 × €36. The missed break therefore changes the estimate by €18. If the break is paid, do not subtract it as unpaid.

Now suppose you also have one hour of travel before work and 30 minutes after it. Keep that 1 hour 30 minutes outside the 12-hour work total. If your applicable arrangement pays that travel at an assumed €13.50 per hour, it adds €20.25, giving €290.25 before any other supplements or deductions. €13.50 is an invented comparison rate here; enter the rate that actually applies to your journey.

Keep working time and travel separate

Twelve hours away from home does not necessarily mean twelve working hours. Record work, breaks and travel separately. Under the Working Hours Act, travel is generally excluded from working time unless it also constitutes work. The asphalt collective agreement has separate provisions for travel-time pay, so payment for a journey does not by itself make the journey daily overtime.

A long shift also does not automatically qualify for a tax-free per diem. Eligibility depends on the trip and working circumstances. For special-sector employees without a regular workplace, daily journeys between home and temporary sites have restricted reimbursement rules: a tax-free per diem is generally unavailable for those daily journeys, while travel costs and, under conditions, meal allowances may qualify.

Check the whole week and the applicable agreement

Use the daily example to understand the arithmetic, then check your actual roster and applicable collective agreement (TES). Weekly overtime is assessed separately; hours already treated as daily overtime are not counted again as weekly overtime. Sunday work has its own increase and can also involve overtime.

Local working-time arrangements and the overtime calculation basis can affect the result. Keep the shift’s date, start and finish times, unpaid breaks, travel details and agreed supplements together. Those records help payroll explain differences. The €270 example illustrates these assumptions; pay depends on the applicable rules and recorded work.

Use the result to check an entry

In WORKPAY, enter actual start and finish times when you need time-of-day supplements. The “Hours only” entry cannot identify which hours were at night. Check work, overtime, night, travel and allowance rows separately before saving. A missing night amount can mean that no clock times were entered or that a rate is not configured for the recorded date; read any warning shown.

The public calculator reproduces only this example’s three daily pay bands. The app can show additional configured components, so the totals need not match. To explain a difference, first match paid work minutes and hourly wage; then account for night or Sunday work, travel and allowance treatment. Review weekly overtime and the applicable agreement with payroll separately.

Sources

• Finlex — Working Hours Act 872/2019, sections 3, 16 and 20
• Finlex — Asphalt collective agreement 2025–2027, sections 15 and 27–29
• Vero — Travel reimbursements for special-sector employees
• Vero — Kilometre and per diem allowances

Examples are WORKPAY’s own illustrations. App behavior and contractual pay entitlement are separate questions. Report unclear guidance or an error: hello@workpaying.com.

Continue reading

• How to read a Finnish payslip
• Record and correct a workday in WORKPAY
• Overnight shifts: one workday, accurate clock times