Overtime pay runs at 1.5×, 2×, and 3×; if unpaid, complain to labor inspection, and late payment triggers an extra 50% to 100%

Weekday overtime is paid at 1.5 times your wage. Rest-day overtime without compensatory time off is paid at 2 times. Work on statutory public holidays such as New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Labor Day, and National Day is paid at 3 times, and the law does not allow compensatory time off to replace that pay. If the employer refuses, file a complaint with labor inspection. After a payment deadline is set and the employer still does not pay, the employer must also pay an additional half to the full amount owed on top of the arrears.

Cost

No cost. Routinely keep copies of clock-in records, shift schedules, and overtime approval forms, and screenshot work-group messages where managers assign extra work. The hard part is remembering to save them every month.

Benefit

Normal working hours under the law are no more than 8 hours per day and no more than 44 hours per week on average. Weekday overtime is generally capped at 1 hour per day. Where special reasons require more, it must not exceed 3 hours per day, and the total in one month must not exceed 36 hours. Overtime pay has three tiers. Extending working hours on ordinary days: at least 150% of wages. Working on a rest day when compensatory rest cannot be arranged: at least 200%. Working on a statutory public holiday: at least 300%. For statutory public holidays, the law does not offer a “substitute with compensatory rest” option. If the employer arranges overtime but does not pay overtime wages, the labor administration department orders it to pay within a set period. If it still does not pay after that period, it must pay the worker an additional sum of 50% to 100% of the amount due on top of the arrears (nationwide). Which days are statutory public holidays is in Article 2 of the State Council holiday measures: New Year's Day 1 day, Spring Festival 4 days, Qingming Festival 1 day, Labor Day 2 days, Dragon Boat Festival 1 day, Mid-Autumn Festival 1 day, National Day 3 days. Article 7 of the holiday measures allows “unified holiday bridging,” linking these days with weekends into longer breaks

Notes

Rest days and statutory public holidays are calculated separately. Statutory public holidays are only the legally designated days each year, such as New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Labor Day, and National Day. In long breaks created by bridging rest days, days that are not the festival days listed in the holiday measures count as rest days: compensatory rest may be arranged where possible; otherwise pay is 200%. That follows from Article 2 of the holiday measures and Article 44 of the Labor Law. “Company policy requires overtime approval” and “I stayed voluntarily” do not mean the employer may withhold pay, but they make evidence harder, so keep assignment and approval records. If the employer wants a comprehensive working-hours system or a flexible working-hours system, it must obtain approval from the labor administration department first; it cannot decide on its own. For dispute arbitration time limits, see Section 8, Item 19.

Sources · 2

1. 全国人大常委会 (2018). 劳动法（2018 年第二次修正，第三十六、四十一、四十三、四十四条）. samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/bgt/art/2023/a…（国家市场监督管理总局刊登）；全国人大常委会 (2007). 劳动合同法（第八十五条第三项）. gov.cn/gongbao/content/2007/content_711013.htm
2. 国务院 (2024). 全国年节及纪念日放假办法（国务院令第 795 号修订，2025 年 1 月 1 日起施行，第二条、第七条）. gov.cn/gongbao/2024/issue_11726/202411/conten…