system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does Overtime work? How is it profitable for a company to pay it and why is it offered?

Thinking of working for a private ambulance company and they offer a lot of overtime (up to 60+ hours a week). Why would they pay me 1.5x my base salary during my overtime hours, when they could just have someone else do the work for 1x? In addition, why not just give me the extra hours and pay me 1x as usual?
gpt
Paying overtime past 40 hours a week is required by law, otherwise companies wouldn't do it. People died to get labor laws like this to be passed so don't take it lightly.

Staff cost money to train and maintain. Secondary costs like training, benefit, uniforms, insurance, etc cost money and the company has likely done the math and determined that paying staff overtime is cheaper in the long run then hiring more staff.

It's also possible they are just badly understaffed and have to pay overtime because they can't get/retain enough people.