Interesting contrast. In the US, we have no limit to overtime amount, but past 40 hrs must be at 1.5x rate... in theory. I regularly work 16 hour shifts with no extra overtime pay because I am not going over 40 hours. Further, I worked 56 hours last week without any overtime pay... because I have to work a second job to pay for health insuance. That 40 hr limit applies to each employer separately.

"Employee consent" here is a convenient fiction because we can be typically be fired without cause.

US law, summarized:

If an employee works more than 40 hours in a week, he or she must be paid “time-and-a-half” the regularly hourly rate, as mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).