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Time in Lieu (TIL) | Meaning and Definition

What is Time in Lieu or TIL?

Time in lieu, or TIL, is the compensation employees receive for working extra hours. The hours an employee works towards TIL will always be outside of work. These might be considered overtime hours. Furthermore, the extra hours worked, instead of being cashed in for money, can be used for another time. These hours can be used as time off work on another date. The details for time in lieu vary depending on a company, and their policies. The purpose of this is to be able to provide greater flexibility to employees related to their time of work. By basically being able to rearrange your working hours by working extra on a certain day, flexibility increases. It increases because these extra hours can be used for early exits, or being able to enter the workplace later.

Time in Lieu vs Overtime Pay

While both time in lieu, and overtime pay are derived from overtime, they are different. While overtime pay is compensated through monetary compensation, TIL is compensated through hours off. TIL is an added incentive to reduce the monetary burden of overtime on a company. TILs, unlike overtime pay, reduce the effect of stress and burnout on employees. TILs are also accumulated, as compared to the rates for overtime pay, which is a key difference between the two.

How To Use TIL?

TIL can be used for multiple purposes. These purposes can include taking time off for personal matters, vacations, or managing a work schedule better. While the protocol to be able to use TIL hours varies from company to company, there are common steps. These common steps, and some which might be involved, are as follows:

  •  Approval for compensation in the form of overtime is extremely important. This approval is directed towards a higher authority, which could be an executive, employer, or HR department. This approval has to have within it multiple details. The details involve the date, hours of TIL used, and other factors, which have to be conveyed towards the authority. 
  • Notices for time periods: Knowing how long in advance to submit an approval is extremely important. This allows an employer to plan for employee absences, and be able to counteract any missed and important assignments. It also allows for the correct delegation of work. An employee might be able to cover a certain assignment you were unable to do because of your TIL.
  • Conversion: Being understanding of overtime conversions is also important when using TIL. Knowing that TILs are overtime hours, can help an employee. Working extra hours directly contributes to TIL. In organizations, TILs can be treated as overtime hours, which can be converted into normal pay. This is why, utilizing overtime as a matter of pay, instead of extra off, might be another option to consider.

Accumulating TIL

Employees accumulate TIL through overtime, as has previously been stated. In addition to this, the TIL is measured in hours through timekeeping systems in an organisation. TIL policies also vary per company. The previously mentioned point could change a very crucial fact. The same number of overtime hours could translate into different hours of TIL in different companies. This is where choice is extremely important. This is because picking between TIL and overtime pay will be different from company to company. Companies also provide off days in the first place, which means that one can choose long occasions instead of TIL hours.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Time in lieu, or TIL, is hour-based compensation based on overtime hours worked by an employee.

The difference between overtime pay and TIL is that overtime pay is monetary, and TIL is not.

No, depending on the company, the same number of overtime hours worked can translate into different hours of TIL given.

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