TOIL (time off in lieu)

TOIL might sound painful, but it’s actually quite the opposite. TOIL stands for “time off in lieu”, itself short for “time off in lieu (instead of) payment”.

At some businesses, employers will offer time off as an alternative to payment when an employee works more than their contracted hours — for example, if they work past their scheduled finish time during a busy shift, or when another member of the team calls in sick, creating a gap in the rota.

Whether an employee receives overtime pay or is offered time off in lieu of payment varies from company to company, and is usually decided in advance rather than happening on an ad-hoc basis. Overtime, on the other hand, is usually treated differently from TOIL, with staff paid for the additional hours they work depending on their employment contract.

In some cases, employers will choose to offer time off in lieu as a way to keep their staffing costs consistent or to stay within a strict budget cap.