overtime work

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase 'overtime work' is correct and usable in written English.
It refers to working more than the usual hours for a job. For example, "My boss asked me to come in on Saturday to do some overtime work."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

This questionnaire also contains questions on job tenure, job contract characteristics (e.g. working hours and working days), overtime work and work continuation during formal (lunch) breaks.

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

The Kroll report also says Kato, a big company in the love hotel industry, is known for poor working conditions, including overtime work without pay.

The New York Times

Total weekly working hours also include casual overtime work, which may have monthly variations.

BMC Health Services Research

Overtime work and wage rates also remain contentious problems.

The New York Times

He has exempted overtime work from taxes and social charges.

The Economist

§ 354.1 Overtime work at border ports, sea ports, and airports.

Cornell University

And companies should discourage overtime work so that employees have more time with their families.

The New York Times

Since then, Mr. Sarkozy and Ms. Lagarde have eased limits on overtime work in France.

The New York Times

He turned down some overtime work so that he could greet Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.

The New York Times

He has loosened labour laws, encouraged overtime work, cut red tape for entrepreneurs and lowered taxes.

The Economist

Sarkozy wants to lower taxes, including inheritance taxes, and eliminate the tax on overtime work.

The Washington Post

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

In formal documents, specify whether the "overtime work" is 'mandatory' or 'voluntary' to avoid legal ambiguity.

Common error

Do not use 'overtimes work'. While the word 'overtime' can sometimes be used as a noun in sports (e.g., 'the game went into overtime'), as an adjective modifying work, it should remain singular.

Linguistic Context

In a sentence, "overtime work" typically functions as a noun phrase. According to Ludwig AI, it serves most frequently as the direct object of verbs like 'approve', 'authorize' or 'perform'. It can also act as the subject of a sentence when discussing labor statistics or health impacts, as seen in many Ludwig examples from medical journals.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

45%

Science

30%

Academia

20%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

3%

Business

2%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "overtime work" is a linguistically robust and highly versatile term used to describe labor performed beyond standard hours. Ludwig AI confirms its widespread acceptance in both academic and journalistic contexts, often appearing in discussions regarding labor rights, healthcare worker burnout and corporate productivity. It is grammatically classified as a noun phrase and is distinguished from more casual terms like "<a href="/s/working+late" target="_blank" rel="alternative">working late" by its formal association with employment law and payroll. Writers should use it when they wish to sound professional and objective about labor duration.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

extra hours

Uses a simpler adjective to describe the same concept in a more casual or general sense.

extended hours

Focuses on the duration of the workday being stretched beyond the norm.

excess hours

Emphasizes the quantitative aspect of labor that exceeds the contractual threshold.

after-hours work

Specifies that the labor occurs outside the standard operational window.

additional work

Broadens the scope beyond just the 'time' aspect to the tasks themselves.

working late

An idiomatic verbal phrase that implies the temporal aspect of staying past normal hours.

extra-time duties

Combines the concept of additional time with the specific responsibilities assigned.

supplemental labor

A highly formal and bureaucratic alternative often used in economic or legal reports.

premium-time work

Highlights the increased pay rate often associated with hours worked beyond the limit.

surplus labor

A technical term frequently encountered in Marxist economics or industrial sociology.

FAQs

How to use "overtime work" in a sentence?

You can use it to describe labor exceeding standard hours, such as: "The project deadline required significant <a href="/s/overtime+work" target="_blank" rel="alternative">overtime work from the engineering team."

What can I say instead of "overtime work"?

Depending on the tone, you might use "<a href="/s/extra+hours" target="_blank" rel="alternative">extra hours" for casual speech or "<a href="/s/extended+hours" target="_blank" rel="alternative">extended hours" for professional correspondence.

Is "overtime work" a compound noun?

Yes, it functions as a compound noun where 'overtime' modifies the type of 'work' being performed, similar to phrases like "part-time work" or "seasonal work".

What's the difference between "overtime work" and "working late"?

While "<a href="/s/working+late" target="_blank" rel="alternative">working late" is an informal action, "overtime work" is a formal labor category that often has legal and financial implications regarding pay rates.