Guide on Overtime Management

Overtime Management is becoming a real challenge in public sector organisations. During the past few years, overtime expenditure in government organisations has increased significantly both in terms of payments and as a percentage of regular salaries.

This involvement of substantial amount of money in terms of overtime payments may lead to malpractices and/or opportunities for corruption. Analysis of complaints received at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and investigations carried out in some public sector organisations revealed that overtime management represents an area vulnerable to malpractices and corruption. Common forms of malpractices and corruption include the allocation of overtime work to a non-deserving staff against gratification, the falsification of attendance records and the claiming of undue overtime that very often involves compromised supervisors.

In line with its mandate to exercise vigilance and superintendence over systems and procedures in public institutions, the ICAC has developed this Best Practice Guide on Overtime Management for the public sector. The guide covers the strategic aspects of overtime management together with the necessary controls that will help corruption prevention across the different processes involved.

This document will guide public sector organisations towards the best course of action in situations where the integrity of the overtime system may be compromised. However, it is worth noting that the document does not, and indeed, cannot supersede any legal requirements involving overtime management.