Is there a European overtime rate for truck drivers?

No. EU law harmonises working time, not pay. Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 sets driving times, breaks and rest periods, and Directive 2002/15/EC covers the organisation of working time for mobile road transport workers, including the 48-hour weekly average and the 60-hour ceiling in a single week. What an overtime hour is worth is decided by national law or by the applicable collective agreement.

How long do I have to claim unpaid overtime?

It depends entirely on the country, and the spread is wide. A contractual forfeiture clause commonly leaves three months in Germany; Spain allows one year, running separately for each payslip; Lithuania gives three years to claim but only three months to apply to the labour disputes commission. Italy and Portugal do not start the clock while you remain employed, but Portugal then allows only one year after you leave, and in Finland the claim is extinguished two years after the contract ends.

Will a labour inspectorate recover my wages for me?

In none of the countries covered here. A labour inspectorate can inspect the employer and impose penalties, but payment is decided by a court or tribunal. In Denmark and Sweden the union is the normal route rather than a last resort, and in Estonia and Lithuania a free labour disputes commission comes first.

Guides / My employer isn't paying my overtime

My employer isn't paying my overtime — what can I do?

Q: Does waiting and loading time count as working time?

Yes. Both Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 and Directive 2002/15/EC count working time and not driving alone: loading, unloading, waiting at the ramp and roadside checks are working time. This is a frequent source of the gap between the hours actually worked and the hours paid.

One thing has to be said first, because it decides everything else: how much an overtime hour is worth is not an EU question. Europe harmonises how long you may work, not what the work pays. The deadline to claim it varies from three months to five years depending on the country.

Drivers cross borders; the law that governs their pay does not. If you look for “the European overtime rate”, you will not find one — and acting on the wrong country's rules is how claims get lost.

1. What EU law does settle: working time

Two instruments frame your hours across the whole Union. Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 sets driving times, breaks and rest periods. Directive 2002/15/EC covers the organisation of the working time of mobile road transport workers — the 48-hour weekly average, the 60-hour ceiling in a single week, and limits on night work.

Crucially, both count working time, not driving alone: loading, unloading, waiting at the ramp and roadside checks are working time. That is why the hours on your payslip so often fall short of the hours you actually did.

2. What it does not settle: the money

Pay is national. The differences are not marginal — they are structural:

Some countries fix the rate in law. Bulgaria guarantees 50 %, 75 % or 100 % depending on the day. Portugal doubles its rates past 100 hours a year. Greece pays 120 % for overtime that was never declared.

Others leave it entirely to collective agreements. In Denmark and Sweden there is no statutory overtime rate at all — the agreement decides, and in Sweden it often decides the deadline too.

Some default to time off rather than money. In Estonia rest is the rule and cash the exception; in Spain, absent an agreement, overtime must be compensated with rest within four months.

3. The deadline is where claims are actually lost

This is the part worth checking before anything else, because the spread is enormous. In Germany a contractual forfeiture clause commonly leaves three months. In Spain it is one year, and it runs separately for each payslip — every month that passes, the oldest month falls away. In Lithuania you have three years to claim but only three months to bring the case to the labour disputes commission.

At the other end, Italy and Portugal do not start the clock at all while you are still employed — but Portugal then allows only one year after you leave, and Finland extinguishes the claim two years after the contract ends.

Pick your country below and read its page. It carries the exact articles, the current rates and links straight to the official legal texts.

4. Your evidence travels with you

Whatever the country, one thing does not change: your driver card records to the minute when you started and stopped — driving, other work, availability. It is tamper-proof and it is yours.

Set it against your payslips, month by month, and mark which hours fell at night, on a Sunday or on a public holiday: that is where national rates diverge. The result should be an amount per month, not an estimate. In several countries the employer must also keep its own time records — two years in Germany, four in Spain, five in Portugal — and you can ask for them.

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5. The route is similar everywhere

Start with a written claim to the employer — the months, the hours, the amount — sent so that you can prove the date, and keep a copy. In several countries that letter is not merely polite: it is the act that stops the clock.

Then the paths diverge. A labour inspectorate can inspect and fine but, in every country covered here, it will not hand you the money — a court or tribunal decides that. In Denmark and Sweden the union is the normal route rather than a last resort; in Estonia and Lithuania a free labour disputes commission comes first.

6. “What am I risking with my employer?”

Claiming the wage you earned is a right, and you can exercise it while staying in the job. Stick to the facts, put everything in writing, argue with figures rather than accusations — that is what makes a file solid.

Legal basis

These are the EU instruments. For pay and deadlines, follow the link to your own country's page — each one cites its national text.

Directive 2002/15/EC — working time of mobile road transport workers
48-hour weekly average, 60-hour ceiling, night work · EUR-Lex · en
Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 — driving times, breaks and rest periods
EUR-Lex · en
European Commission — driving time and rest periods
Official overview of the social provisions in road transport · en

General information, as at August 2026 — not legal advice. What governs your case is your employment contract, the collective agreement that applies to you, and the law of the country of employment. If in doubt: your union, the national labour inspectorate, or a lawyer.