Overtime pay is calculated at three rates: 1.5×, 2×, and 3× the regular wage; failure to pay warrants a complaint to labor authorities, and non‑payment after the deadline incurs an additional penalty of 50%–100% of the owed amount

There is no direct cost. Simply keep copies of time‑card records, shift schedules, and overtime approval forms; also screenshot any messages from supervisors assigning work in the team chat. The challenge is remembering to do this each month.

The Labor Law provides for no more than 8 hours per day and an average of no more than 44 hours per week. State Council regulations on working hours further clarify that under standard working hours, daily work is 8 hours and weekly work is 40 hours. Where other working hour systems are approved, relevant regulations apply. Overtime on normal workdays generally must not exceed 1 hour per day. If longer hours are needed for special reasons, it must not exceed 3 hours per day, and total monthly overtime must not exceed 36 hours. Overtime pay has three tiers: regular overtime pays no less than 150% of the regular wage; working on rest days without compensatory time off pays no less than 200%; working on statutory holidays pays no less than 300%. For statutory holidays, the law does not offer the option of substituting pay with compensatory time off. If an employer arranges overtime without paying overtime compensation, the labor administrative department will order payment within a specified time limit. If it fails to pay after the deadline, it will be ordered to pay additional compensation to the worker of between 50% and 100% of the amount owed (nationwide). To see which days are statutory holidays, see Article 2 of the State Council's Holiday Measures: New Year's Day (1 day), Spring Festival (4 days), Tomb Sweeping Day (1 day), Labor Day (2 days), Dragon Boat Festival (1 day), Mid-Autumn Festival (1 day), and National Day (3 days). Article 7 of the Holiday Measures allows unified holiday rescheduling to combine these days with weekends into longer consecutive breaks.

国务院 (1995 修订). 国务院关于职工工作时间的规定（第三、五条）；劳动部贯彻《国务院关于职工工作时间的规定》的实施办法（第三、五条）. https://www.beijing.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengcefagui/qtwj/201710/t20171009_780941.html；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）. https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdzdgknr/bgt/art/2023/art_d9aa750028b14b99a776cb93726a360d.html（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）. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2007/content_711013.htm；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）. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2024/issue_11726/202411/content_6989774.html

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.