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Understanding the smoothing option

Smoothing is an adjustment of the overtime, here is how it works !

Julie Delamare avatar
Written by Julie Delamare
Updated over 3 months ago

Smoothing makes it possible to calculate overtime by month and not by week.

This is a tolerated practice, but it does not respect the French Labour Code.

With adjusted overtime, you can compensate for the missing hours of your employees with their overtime or complementary hours, on the weeks included in your pay period.


How does the smoothing option work ?

1) All weeks in which Sunday is included in the pay period are taken into account

2) For each week, the number of missing normal, additional and/or overtime hours is counted and added together

3) The missing hours are subtracted from the following hours in this precise order: normal hours then additional hours then overtime hours

An example will clear it up !

Let's take Matthew, the pay period is from the 1st to the 29th February 2024.

He has a 35 hour contract and has worked the following hours :

  • W5 : 33 hours → missing 2 hours

  • W6 : 37 hours → 2 hours of overtime

  • W7 : 33 hours worked + 7h of paid leave → 2 hours of normal hours

  • W8 : 36 hours → 1 hour of overtime

  • W9 : As overtime is calculated on a Sunday, these hours will be accounted for in the March pay period

1) We have 4 weeks with Sunday included in the period

2) There are therefore :

  • 2 hours missing

  • 2 normal hours

  • 3 hours overtime

3) The missing hours are offset by the normal hours, leaving only 3 hours of overtime


How do you calculate the applied amounts of overtime and additional hours ?

If there is any overtime or additional hours remaining, we establish the increments for the entire pay period on the basis of the collective agreement entered in Combo.

The employee's weekly contract time is multiplied by the number of weeks that include a Sunday in the pay period. We then calculate the increments based on this total.

Let's imagine a 4-week pay period. The collective agreement for the account pays 25% extra for hours between 35 and 43 hours:

Let's imagine a 4-week pay period. The collective agreement for the account pays 25% extra for hours between 35 and 43 hours :

  • 35h * 4 weeks = 140h

  • 43h * 4 weeks = 172h

Worked hours between 140h and 172h are increased by 25%.

So our 3 hours of overtime are well within this tier and are increased by 25%.

You are now a pro at calculating adjusted overtime ! 🥳

Don't panic, if you're ever unsure, you can always contact us on the chat !

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