Overtime Orders & Additional Hours Decisions – Decisions, Rest, and Excel | Word/PDF

Overtime Order & Additional Hours Decision is a document package for Swedish employers who want to document decisions on additional working hours, advance checks of working hour limits and rest, notifications to employees, and actual follow-up. Five editable Swedish work documents, one Swedish and one English guide, and an Excel register with nine tabs are included. The package complements – but does not replace – the employer's regular time reporting and payroll system.

When Are the Templates Used?

When a manager authorized to do so needs to document an order for work beyond the regular schedule or check a planned additional hours shift for a part-time employee. The purpose is to create traceability regarding reasons, previous balances, rest, work environment risks, and actual follow-up. A signature on the order does not give the employer a general right to exceed working hour regulations.

File by File

Excel with Nine Tabs

Overview, Employees, Decision Order, Planned Shifts, Worked Time, Period Check, Rest Check, Deviations, and Read Me. The workbook calculates simple net time, totals registered hours, and flags incomplete decisions and invalid time values. It does not support automatic assessment of rolling four-week periods, collective agreement deviations, daily rest, excess additional hours, or overtime compensation. These issues must be checked separately against the complete history and the rules that actually apply.

How the Package Is Used

1. Establish the scope of employment and the applicable collective agreement or other relevant rule.
2. Document the specific work need and alternatives to additional work.
3. Review the correct class of overtime or additional hours, historical balances, period limits, total working hours, daily and weekly rest.
4. Assess the risk of ill health and lack of recovery before making a decision.
5. Notify the employee and save the acknowledgment of receipt without describing the acknowledgments as a waiver of rights.
6. Enter the actually worked time into the employer's regular time and payroll system and document deviations.

Swedish Rules and Legal Limitations

According to the Working Hours Act (1982:673), Sections 8 and 8 a contain provisions on general and additional overtime; Sections 10 and 10 a on additional hours. The starting point is a maximum of 200 hours of general overtime per calendar year, an additional up to 150 hours of extra overtime under special conditions, and period limits of 48 hours per four weeks or 50 hours per calendar month. The rules on additional hours have their own conditions. Total working hours, daily rest, and weekly rest must be checked separately.

Collective agreements may contain deviating working hour rules within the limits of the law. See the Swedish Work Environment Authority's guidance on the duty to keep records and AFS 2023:2, Section 9 on working hours and ill health. The template should not be used to automatically approve emergency overtime, collective agreement deviations, or overtime that risks the employee's health.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an overtime order?

It is an employer order or instruction for additional work. To be assessed legally, it must be combined with a check of the actual need, employment and agreement terms, and working hour and rest regulations.

What is the difference between overtime and additional hours?

Overtime primarily refers to work beyond the full-time measure according to the applicable rules. Additional hours apply to extra hours for part-time employees. Special rules apply to excess additional hours, and collective agreements must be checked.

Can the employer always order 200 overtime hours?

No. The annual limit is not a general right to order work. Special needs, other period limits, rest, work environment risks, and any collective agreements must be considered.

Does Excel automatically calculate whether the order is legal?

No. Excel handles administrative calculations and flags certain incorrect or incomplete rows. Correct legal review requires manual checking and reliable, complete working hour data.

Does an acknowledgment of receipt mean that the employee waives compensation or rest?

No. An acknowledgment shows that the notification has been received and cannot repeal the law or applicable collective agreement.

Are English work documents included?

No. The five work templates are in Swedish. The English User Guide is only guidance on how the Swedish files are used.

Related Templates

For guidance on how worked hours, overtime, and additional hours are documented, see the guide on time reporting, overtime, and additional hours. The guide provides general information; always check current rules and the applicable collective agreement.

Supplement as needed with time reporting and overtime journal, comp time bank and working hour balances, or notification of schedule change. These are separate document types.

Version 1.0 · Sweden · Sources checked AI-assisted November 2, 2026 · No external legal review or regulatory approval. Delivery as a digital ZIP after manual activation of the product.