Compensatory Time Off (Comp Time)
Comp time is overtime hours taken as leave instead of cash overtime compensation. It is a common solution in restaurants, where Christmas, summer and events generate overtime that can be balanced against quieter periods.
What Vendion actually does today: the system keeps a comp time balance per employee, pays wages during the comp leave, and automatically deducts from the balance when leave is approved. There is no automatic accrual from overtime — overtime is paid out in cash, and comp time is entered manually. Read on before you agree on comp time with your staff.
Comp leave is PAID leave
This is the most important point in the whole article.
Gröna riksavtalet (Visita–HRF) ch. 3 § 12 point 1.2 states that compensation for overtime may be given as paid leave. The leave replaces the cash overtime compensation — so the bank holds hours whose compensation has not yet been paid, and a withdrawal from it must produce wages.
This is how it is paid:
| Pay form | What is paid during the comp leave |
|---|---|
| Monthly salary | The monthly salary is paid in full — no absence deduction is made for comp leave. The leave is therefore already paid, and an extra item would have been double |
| Hourly wage | Hourly rate times the scheduled hours of the absence, the same basis sick pay uses |
In payroll data the amount appears as its own item for hourly staff. For monthly staff it shows zero — and that is correct, since the salary was never reduced.
What the agreement sets and what you decide
Comp time is governed by collective agreement or individual employment contract, not by law. The agreement sets the conversion factor: 1.5 hours of leave per overtime hour under points a and b, and 2 hours under point c. Compensation as paid leave also requires an agreement between employer and employee.
Vendion does not calculate the following for you — these are things you agree on and track yourselves:
- Cap per employee — according to your agreement
- Expiration — when unused comp time should be settled, according to your agreement
- At end of employment — remaining comp time must be paid out in cash
Comp time, unsocial hours and overtime
| Concept | What it is | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime hours | Work beyond ordinary working time | Time report and payroll data |
| Overtime compensation | Supplement on the hourly wage for those hours | Payroll data, in SEK |
| Unsocial hours supplement | Compensation for evenings, weekends, red days | Payroll data, in SEK |
| Comp time | Saved hours taken as paid leave | The comp time bank |
Can you get both unsocial hours pay and comp time for the same hours? Yes. The supplement is paid in cash while the time is saved as comp time.
Can you get both overtime pay and comp time? No — you choose one. Vendion currently always pays overtime compensation per the agreement. To give comp time instead, also check and adjust the payroll basis with your payroll administrator so the same overtime is not both paid and banked. Adding hours to the comp bank does not remove the overtime payment.
Overtime compensation is a supplement on the hourly wage: 35 % for the first two hours (45 % before 1 April 2026), 70 % beyond that, and 90 % for overtime not performed in connection with ordinary working time.
Viewing the balance
Open the employee under Personal ▸ Personal and go to the Ledighetssaldo (leave balance) tab. The Kompbank card shows the balance and the most recent transactions.
The employee sees their own balance on the home screen of the staff portal.
| Transaction | Effect |
|---|---|
| Earned time | Increases the balance |
| Leave taken | Reduces the balance when leave is approved |
| Paid-out or expired time | Reduces the balance when such an adjustment is entered |
| Adjustment | Increases or decreases the balance, for example when approved leave changes |
Read the description and the plus or minus sign on each transaction to follow changes to the balance.
The bank is a ledger: a change is written as a new row, never by erasing an old one. That keeps the balance auditable.
Adding hours to the bank
There is currently no button for entering a transaction manually. Ask the AI assistant in admin: add 6 hours of comp time for Anna, description: agreed comp time for the shift on 10 September — it writes the transaction and the balance updates. This requires the edit-payroll permission.
Taking comp time
The employee does this:
- Go to Frånvaro (absence) in the staff portal
- Click Ny frånvaroansökan (new absence request)
- Choose the type Kompledighet (comp leave)
- Pick dates and submit
You approve it like any absence request, and approval automatically deducts from the balance. If the decision changes, the hours are returned.
⚠️ The system does not check that the balance is sufficient. Approving 16 hours for someone with 0 left results in a balance of minus 16. There is no guard anywhere — check the balance before you approve.
The hours deducted are taken first from the hours stated on the request, then from the schedule, and only as a last resort as eight hours per day.
Paying out a balance
There is no automatic payout — neither at expiration nor when someone leaves.
To pay out a balance, enter the amount as a manual adjustment on the employee's Löneunderlag (payroll) tab, then zero the balance via the AI assistant. Adjustments require the edit-payroll permission.
Remember that remaining comp time must be paid out at the end of employment under the agreement. The system does not remind you, so you need your own routine.
This feature is part of Vendion Staff.
Curious how it looks in practice? Read more about the product or book a short demo.
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