Overtime is part of everyday working life for only a minority of employees in Germany. Around one in eight people worked more than was stipulated in their employment contract last year, according to reports from the Federal Statistical Office. The data is based on responses from the microcensus. Extrapolated, 4.6 million people worked overtime. That is 12 percent of the almost 39.3 million employees.

Most of the time, the overtime ends up in a working time account, so it can be offset later as free time. 71 percent of people who work extra hours mentioned this form. Around 20 percent, or more than 900,000 people, said they did unpaid overtime. 17 percent said they were paid for it. Mixed forms and thus multiple answers were also possible.

For 40 percent, the overtime is done in a maximum of five hours per week. However, almost a fifth (19 percent) also worked more than 15 hours of overtime per week. Overtime is particularly common in financial and insurance services, and least common in the hospitality industry.