TOIL and overtime guides
Time off in lieu is simple in principle and messy in practice. These guides cover the questions that come up once a workplace actually starts banking hours — what counts, how it converts, and how to write it down so nobody has to rely on memory.
What is time off in lieu (TOIL)?
A plain-English explanation of TOIL: how it differs from overtime pay and annual leave, when it is used, and what a workable agreement contains.
Read the guideTOIL vs overtime pay: which is better?
The trade-offs for employers and employees — cash flow, recovery time, fairness, and the risks each side carries when the record is informal.
Read the guideHow to calculate time-and-a-half and double time
Worked examples for converting overtime hours into time off at 1:1, 1.5x, 2x and day-for-day, including partial hours and shifts crossing midnight.
Read the guideHow to write a TOIL policy (with a template)
The eight clauses every time-off-in-lieu policy needs, plus a copy-and-adapt template you can put in front of your team.
Read the guideWhere to start
If TOIL is new to your workplace, read the definition guide first, then the policy template — those two together give you something you can circulate. If you already run TOIL informally and want to tighten it up, the conversion-maths guide and how TimerOff works will be more useful.