Clock change on 25 October 2026 — the extra hour on a night shift is overtime

On the night from Saturday 24 to Sunday 25 October 2026 the clocks go back from 3:00 to 2:00. If you work the night shift then and your schedule has not been shortened, you will work one hour more than the clock shows. The National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) explains that this hour is overtime (praca w godzinach nadliczbowych). Here is what you are owed for it and how your employer can settle it.

Why this hour is overtime

The Labour Code counts working time in hours actually worked, not by what the clock shows. The standard is 8 hours per day (Art. 129 § 1). Work beyond this standard — or beyond the extended daily working time of your working-time system, e.g. 12 hours — is overtime (Art. 151 § 1).

On the night of the clock change, a shift planned “from 22:00 to 6:00” actually lasts 9 hours, and a 12-hour shift lasts 13 hours. As PIP stated in its notice of 24 October 2025, this one extra hour is overtime if the employer has not shortened working time in the schedule.

What you are owed for this hour

For the extra hour you receive three components:

• your normal pay for the hour worked,
• a 100% overtime supplement — because the overtime falls at night (Art. 151¹ § 1 point 1(a)); this year it also falls on a Sunday,
• the night-work supplement (dodatek za pracę w porze nocnej) — 20% of the hourly rate derived from the minimum wage (Art. 151⁸ § 1). The hour 2:00–3:00 always falls within night time, because night time is 8 hours between 21:00 and 7:00 (Art. 151⁷ § 1).

With a minimum wage of PLN 4,806 gross and 176 working hours in October 2026, the night supplement is about PLN 5.46 gross per hour (PLN 4,806 : 176 h = PLN 27.31; 20% of that is PLN 5.46).

Example: you earn PLN 32 gross per hour. For the extra hour on the night of the clock change you should receive PLN 32 (pay) + PLN 32 (100% supplement) + PLN 5.46 (night supplement) = PLN 69.46 gross.

Time off instead of the supplement

Instead of the overtime supplement, your employer may give you time off (Art. 151²):

• at your request — in the same amount, i.e. 1 hour off for 1 hour of overtime,
• without your request — in an amount one and a half times higher, i.e. 1.5 hours off for 1 hour of overtime, no later than the end of the settlement period. This must not reduce your pay for the full monthly working time.

When you receive time off, the overtime supplement no longer applies (Art. 151² § 3). You are, however, always entitled to the night-work supplement, because it is due for every hour worked at night.

When there will be no overtime

PIP points out that if work at the company does not require continuity, the employer can schedule a shift one hour shorter for that night — e.g. 7 instead of 8 or 11 instead of 12 hours. After the clocks go back, you will then work your normal number of hours and no overtime arises. Pay is due for the hours actually worked.

What this means for you

If you are an employee:

• Check your schedule to see whether you work on the night of 24 to 25 October and how many hours your shift lasts.
• After your October pay, check your payslip (pasek wypłaty) for the extra hour, the overtime supplement or time off in lieu. At your request, the employer must show you the working-time records (ewidencja czasu pracy) (Art. 149 § 1).
• If you are a temporary worker, overtime is settled by the temporary work agency (agencja pracy tymczasowej) with which you have your employment contract — ask them your questions.
• Under a civil-law contract (umowa zlecenie) there is no “overtime” under the Labour Code, but for every hour of performing the contract you are owed at least the minimum hourly rate: PLN 31.40 gross in 2026. Record the actual number of hours.

If you are an employer:

• Decide before 24 October: either shorten the night shift by one hour in the schedule or prepare to settle the overtime.
• Remember that the extra hour counts towards the annual limit of 150 overtime hours due to the employer’s special needs (Art. 151 § 3), unless the work regulations or a collective agreement provide for a different limit.
• Record the actual number of hours in the working-time records — PIP checks the settlement on that basis.

Legal basis: Act of 26 June 1974 — Labour Code (consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245), Art. 129 § 1, 149 § 1, 151 § 1 and 3, 151¹ § 1, 151², 151⁷ § 1, 151⁸ § 1; Regulation of the Prime Minister of 4 March 2022 on the introduction and withdrawal of Central European Summer Time in 2022–2026 (Dz.U. 2022 poz. 539); Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 11 September 2025 on the minimum wage and minimum hourly rate in 2026 (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1242); PIP, “Zmiana czasu na zimowy a czas pracy” (24.10.2025). Legal status as of 30 September 2026.