Young man works overtime
12 per cent of newly graduated engineers work without paid overtime, according to NITO's salary statistics for 2025. Photo: Getty Images

Newly qualified engineers are not paid for overtime work

Almost one in eight newly qualified engineers work without the right to overtime pay. This is a persistent problem, which does not seem to change much from year to year, according to NITO's wage statistics.

Translated by AI

- The exemption for particularly independent positions applies to employees in senior and particularly responsible positions. How many graduates go straight into such a position? The answer is practically none," says Kirsten Rydne, lawyer at NITO.

12 per cent work without paid overtime

In 2025, 12 per cent of NITO's members with zero years of experience worked without the right to paid overtime, in a so-called particularly independent position.

- When you apply for your first job, it is not easy to protest against the conditions offered by the employer, so my message goes to the employers. It is obvious that, as a general rule, you break the law when a new employee is exempted from the working hours regulations, Rydne believes.

In order for your position to be considered particularly independent, you must have considerable independence in how and when you organise and carry out your work tasks. It is not enough that you have flexible hours or can work from home - you must have real freedom to manage your working day. 

33 per cent of graduates who are not paid overtime work in building and construction, 16 per cent in project work and 13 per cent in ICT.

- If you are working on a project, the employer cannot, as a general rule, exempt you, because your working hours are normally governed by the project's progress and not by your own assessments and priorities, NITO's lawyer clarifies.

Check if you have a particularly independent position

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