Police guides · officers in England and Wales
Police overtime explained
A late finish is paid at time and a third, in completed 15-minute blocks. If you weren't told at the start of your shift, the first 30 minutes usually aren't paid, until your fifth late finish that week.
These are the national rules for full-time constables and sergeants. Inspectors and above, part-time officers and police staff have different rules. Money examples use pay point 7 (£50,256 a year), before tax.
What an hour is worth
Overtime is paid at 1/24 of a day's pay for every completed 15 minutes. That's time and a third.
- A day's pay is your yearly basic salary ÷ 52 ÷ 5. At pay point 7 that's £193.29.
- One 15-minute block is £8.05, so an hour is £32.22.
- Only completed blocks count. 1 hour 10 minutes of paid overtime pays as 1 hour.
Overtime is time you stay on after your rostered shift ends. Being called back between shifts and having your start brought forward without due notice can count too. Quick regs covers the early start.
Not told: the 30-minute rule
If nobody told you at the start of your shift that you'd be staying on:
- Under 30 minutes isn't paid at all.
- 30 minutes or more, on one of your first four late finishes that week: the first 30 minutes are taken off, and the rest is paid in completed 15-minute blocks.
Example: your Late ends at 23:00 and you stay until 00:30. That's 90 minutes. Take off 30, which leaves 60 minutes, or 4 blocks: £32.22.
This deduction is often called the "King's half hour".
The fifth late finish
The 30 minutes only come off on the first four unplanned late finishes in your overtime week. From the fifth one that week, nothing is taken off.
Example: the same 90 minutes on your fifth late finish that week is 6 blocks: £48.32.
Your force sets which day its overtime week starts. If you don't know, ask your duties office, because it decides which late finishes count as the first four.
Told at the start of your shift
If you were told at the start of your shift that you'd be working on, the 30 minutes aren't taken off. Once you stay 30 minutes or more, all of it is paid.
Example: told at parade you'll stay on, and you finish 90 minutes late. That's 6 blocks: £48.32.
Under 15 minutes isn't paid. If you were told and stayed between 15 and 30 minutes, check how your force pays it with your Fed rep.
Long rostered shifts
A longer shift on your roster, such as a 10-hour Day or an 11-hour Supernoon, is your normal tour. Overtime only starts after the rostered end, not after 8 hours.
Example: a Supernoon rostered 16:00 to 03:00 that finishes at 04:30, not told, first late finish that week. That's 90 minutes past 03:00, less 30, which is £32.22.
Local agreements
The 30-minute rule is the national rule. Some forces have a local agreement not to take the 30 minutes off. Check with your Federation branch before you rely on either.
Time off instead
You can take overtime as time off (TOIL) instead of pay, if you choose before the end of the pay period. You get a bit more back as time off than you work. How TOIL is worked out.
Where this comes from
- Police Regulations 2003, regulation 25 (legislation.gov.uk).
- Annex G paragraphs 1(d) and 1(g) (the rate, the first four occasions and the 30 minutes) and 2(a) and 2(d) (a day's pay and the overtime week), from the determinations under the Police Regulations 2003, GOV.UK.
- Annex F (pay scales), GOV.UK.
This is general guidance, not legal or financial advice, and it isn't a decision by your force. If something matters, check it with your Federation rep.
Every late finish, worked out for you
SHFTRS records each late finish against your rota, counts which number it is that week, and tells you what it's worth as pay or TOIL. It's built by police, for police.