Can I refuse to work overtime?
Conditionally. You must work overtime on a lawful WRITTEN order — within the limits of at most 50 hours a week of total working time and 180 hours a year of overtime (up to 250 hours only if a collective agreement allows it). An unlawful order you may refuse with no consequences. A pregnant worker, a parent of a child under 8 and a worker doing part-time work for several employers work overtime only with their own written consent, and for minors overtime is banned outright. The biggest myth: there is no statutory 50% overtime premium — the ZOR (Labour Act) guarantees only "increased pay", and the only statutory 50% minimum applies to work on a Sunday.
📋 The rules
- Overtime may be required only in the event of force majeure, an extraordinary increase in workload or a similar urgent need, and only by a written request from the employer; if the urgency makes a prior written request impossible, an oral order must be confirmed in writing within 7 days (čl. 65. st. 1.–2. ZOR). On a lawful request the worker must work overtime.
- The hard limits: total working time including overtime is at most 50 hours a week; an individual worker's overtime is at most 180 hours a year, and 250 hours only if a collective agreement so provides (čl. 65. st. 3.–4.).
- Groups protected by a written-consent requirement (čl. 65. st. 6.–8., per NN 151/22): a pregnant worker, a parent of a child under 8 and a worker working part time for several employers may work overtime only with a written statement of voluntary consent (except in force majeure); for additional work the primary employer needs that same consent, and the second employer may not order overtime at all, except in force majeure. For minors overtime is prohibited (st. 5.).
- Pay: the worker is entitled to increased pay for overtime, but the ZOR prescribes no percentage — the amount is set by the collective agreement, the work rulebook or the employment contract. The only statutory minimum in čl. 94. is at least 50% per hour for Sunday work, and the increase is calculated on a base no lower than the minimum wage.
- The maths of refusing: unjustified refusal of a lawful written order is, according to case law, a breach of employment obligations and can be grounds for dismissal, including extraordinary dismissal; refusing an unlawful order (beyond 50/180/250 hours, without a genuine urgent need, or without the consent of a protected worker) is not a breach, and a dismissal based on it would be unlawful.
🔓 Exceptions
- Minors: an absolute ban on overtime — no consent can make it lawful (čl. 65. st. 5.), and such offences are among the most serious.
- The written-consent group may simply say no: pregnant workers, parents of children under 8, part-timers with several employers and workers doing additional work may not be ordered to work overtime without prior voluntary written consent — except in force majeure, which overrides even them (čl. 65. st. 6.–7.).
- Force majeure cuts the other way too: in genuine force majeure even an oral order binds immediately (written confirmation follows within 7 days), and the second employer in additional work may then exceptionally order overtime (čl. 65. st. 2. and 8.).
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Overtime breaches are the employer's most serious offences (čl. 229. ZOR): ordering overtime beyond 50 hours a week or beyond 180/250 hours a year, and ordering it for people to whom it is prohibited, is punished with 8,090.00–13,270.00 euros for a legal person and 920.00–1,320.00 euros for the responsible person (doubled when committed against a minor); failing to keep working-time records is in the same, most serious group. Second order: for the worker, unjustified refusal of a lawful order can justify dismissal, while for the employer overtime that was ordered but not paid remains an enforceable claim with interest — plus separate fines when the State Inspectorate finds unrecorded hours.
📎 Official sources
- Narodne novine (NN) · the official gazette (Act amending the Labour Act, NN 151/22 — čl. 65. and 94.) →
- Zakon.hr · statute register (consolidated text of the Labour Act) →
- Radnička prava · portal home page (Legal Clinic: employer offences) →
❓ Frequently asked
Do I have to work overtime if my boss only tells me verbally?
The request must be in writing; an oral order is allowed only when urgency makes a written one impossible, and it must be confirmed in writing within 7 days (čl. 65. st. 2.). Without that, the order is not lawful and does not bind you.
How many overtime hours a year may I work?
At most 180 hours a year, or 250 hours if a collective agreement expressly allows it. On top of that, total working time including overtime may not exceed 50 hours a week (čl. 65. st. 3.–4. ZOR).
Is overtime paid 50% more by law?
No. The ZOR guarantees only increased pay, with no prescribed percentage — the amount is set by a collective agreement, a rulebook or the employment contract. The only statutory 50% minimum applies to Sunday work (čl. 94.).
Can I refuse overtime because I have a small child?
A parent of a child under 8 works overtime only on their own written statement of voluntary consent (čl. 65. st. 6.). Without that consent the order does not bind you, except in a case of genuine force majeure.
Can I be dismissed for refusing overtime?
If the order is lawful and in writing, case law treats unjustified refusal as a breach of employment obligations. If the order is unlawful, refusing it is not a breach and a dismissal on that basis would not stand.
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