A shift starts in the evening and ends the next morning. Payroll cannot treat it as one undifferentiated block: some hours fall before 22:00, some within the statutory night period, and an unpaid break may sit in the middle. Applying 1.25 to the entire shift overpays the daytime part; forgetting the break or the premium can misstate the employee's wages. The employment agreement matters too, because night compensation may already be included in an agreed salary.
I am Dmitri Schmidt, CEO of AccRes. This guide takes one shift for an adult employee and turns its timestamps into a checkable gross-pay line. The example is on a weekday night, contains no overtime or public-holiday work, assumes a genuine work-free break and no agreement including night pay in the base wage. Those boundaries matter: a public holiday, overtime or a special working-time arrangement calls for separate checks rather than one multiplier across the shift.
Identify night hours and read the pay agreement
Employment Contracts Act § 45(1) defines night time as 22:00–06:00 and requires 1.25 times the wage for work in that period unless the parties agreed that the wage already includes night-work compensation. The rule follows hours actually worked, not a shift label. Where ordinary pay is already counted, the separate payroll addition is 25% of the night hours' base pay, not another 125% on top.
Tööelu wage guidance explains that the parties may agree on additional time off instead under § 45(3). A wage set at the statutory minimum cannot itself be treated as containing a night-work premium. Section 43² also allows a narrow written arrangement for a worker genuinely free to organise their own working time, subject to a salary threshold, the nature of the job and safety conditions. A shift worker does not qualify merely because a contract calls the role 'independent'.
Split the shift at 22:00 and subtract the real break
Record when work starts and ends and when the employee was actually free of duties. For a 21:00–05:00 shift, 21:00–22:00 is one daytime clock hour; 22:00–05:00 contains seven night clock hours. Subtract a break from the segment where it occurred. A timesheet with only the shift label cannot support a reliable night-pay calculation.
Section 47(2) normally requires a break of at least 30 minutes when work exceeds six hours. Breaks are outside working time, except where the nature of the work prevents a break and the employer enables rest and eating during work. The example below assumes a genuine unpaid, work-free break. If the worker had to keep performing duties, do not simply subtract half an hour from night work.
Worked example: a 21:00–05:00 shift
Assume an hourly wage of EUR 10. The employee works a normal weekday shift from 21:00 to 05:00 and takes an unpaid, work-free break from 00:30 to 01:00. Eight clock hours leave 7.5 paid working hours. Seven clock hours fall at night, but the break leaves 6.5 paid night hours. Ordinary pay is 7.5 × EUR 10 = EUR 75. The night addition is 6.5 × EUR 10 × 0.25 = EUR 16.25. Gross pay for this shift is EUR 91.25.
Check the same sum another way: one daytime hour × EUR 10 plus 6.5 night hours × EUR 12.50 equals EUR 91.25. Multiplying all 7.5 hours by 1.25 would wrongly uplift the hour before 22:00. The illustration excludes taxes, other wage items and overtime. With a monthly salary, establish the base hourly equivalent under the applicable wage calculation, then add only the missing night component.
Check holidays, overtime and rest separately
A public holiday or overtime does not erase night-work entitlement. Tööelu explains that overlapping entitlements are considered without counting the contractual base wage twice. Mark night, holiday and overtime hours separately. Under summarised working time, whether a shift created overtime may become clear only at the end of the calculation period.
Correct pay does not make an unlawful schedule safe. Tööelu working-time guidance and §§ 50–51 contain separate limits for night workers and daily rest, including stricter conditions where work affects health. Review the whole schedule before approving recurring nights. The Employment Contracts Act does not automatically govern a board-member service agreement as it does an employment contract (§ 1(5)).
For night payroll I ask for two sets of timestamps: when duties were performed and when the employee was genuinely free to take a break. The second set can change the 25% addition.
Calculate the night premium from paid hours within 22:00–06:00, not from the name or length of the entire shift. Check the pay agreement, break, base wage and any time-off arrangement before finalising payroll. Review public holidays, overtime and rest limits separately. In the worked 21:00–05:00 shift, 6.5 paid night hours produce EUR 91.25 gross pay for the shift.
If several shift patterns make the payroll record hard to reconcile, contact AccRes. We can match approved time records with the wage calculation.