Overtime Calculator
Weekly pay with time and a half, double time and a salaried regular rate.
About
Overtime Calculator
Overtime pay is straightforward once the regular rate is right, and the regular rate is where most errors live. This works out a week's pay from regular hours, overtime hours and any double time, and handles the salaried case where the hourly rate has to be derived first.
The arithmetic
overtime rate = regular rate × multiplier
total pay = (regular rate × regular hours) + (overtime rate × overtime hours)
Someone earning $22 an hour who works 40 regular hours and 8 overtime hours at time and a half:
- Overtime rate: $22 × 1.5 = $33 an hour
- Regular pay: $22 × 40 = $880
- Overtime pay: $33 × 8 = $264
- Total: $1,144 for 48 hours
The blended rate across all 48 hours is $23.83. Those 8 hours added 30% to the week's pay for 20% more time, which is the point of the premium.
The regular rate for salaried workers
A salary has to be converted to an hourly figure before overtime can be calculated, and the divisor is the hours the salary is meant to cover, not an assumed 40.
A $52,000 salary is $1,000 a week. If the contract covers 40 hours, the regular rate is $25.00. If it covers 37.5 hours, the regular rate is $26.67. Using 40 when the real figure is 37.5 shortchanges every overtime hour by $2.50, and across a year of regular overtime that becomes a substantial sum.
Under US federal rules the regular rate also has to include non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials and commission, spread across the hours they were earned in. A production bonus paid weekly raises the regular rate and therefore raises the overtime rate too. A genuine gift, such as a holiday bonus unrelated to performance, does not.
When overtime is owed
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees in the US are owed at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. Several points follow from the exact wording.
The workweek is a fixed and recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour days. An employer chooses when it starts, and it cannot be shifted around to avoid overtime.
Averaging across two weeks is not allowed. Working 50 hours one week and 30 the next means 10 hours of overtime, not zero, even though the fortnight totals 80.
Paid time off does not count toward the 40. A week of 32 worked hours plus 8 hours of holiday pay reaches 40 on the payslip, but no overtime is triggered until 40 hours are actually worked.
Daily overtime and double time
Federal law has no daily overtime rule, so a 12-hour day followed by three short ones is entirely regular pay at the federal level. Several states go further.
| Situation | California rate |
|---|---|
| Over 8 hours in a day | 1.5x |
| Over 12 hours in a day | 2x |
| First 8 hours of a 7th consecutive day | 1.5x |
| Beyond 8 hours on a 7th consecutive day | 2x |
Alaska, Nevada and Colorado have their own daily rules. Where state and federal law differ, the one more favourable to the employee applies, and the daily and weekly figures are not added together for the same hours.
What overtime is worth over a year
Eight overtime hours a week at $33 is $264. Across 52 weeks that is $13,728, on top of $45,760 of regular pay. Overtime is nearly a quarter of the total.
That dependence is worth being aware of. Household budgets built on consistent overtime are exposed when the workload drops, since the hours are rarely guaranteed by contract. Mortgage lenders often discount overtime income for the same reason, or require two years of history before counting it.
Exempt and non-exempt
Exempt employees are not owed overtime. Qualifying requires all three of a salary basis, a salary above the current federal threshold, and duties that are genuinely executive, administrative or professional. A job title on its own decides nothing, and calling someone a manager while their actual duties are routine does not make them exempt.
Misclassification is common enough that it is worth checking the duties test rather than assuming, since back pay for misclassified overtime can run for years.
A salaried example end to end
An employee earns $48,000 a year under a contract covering 35 hours a week, and works 6 hours of overtime.
- Weekly salary: $48,000 ÷ 52 = $923.08
- Regular rate: $923.08 ÷ 35 = $26.37 an hour
- Overtime rate: $26.37 × 1.5 = $39.56
- Overtime pay: $39.56 × 6 = $237.36
- Total for the week: $1,160.44
Had the same salary been divided by 40 instead of 35, the regular rate would have come out at $23.08 and the overtime pay at $207.72. The $29.64 difference each week is $1,541 across a year, and it comes purely from using the wrong divisor.
Bonuses change the regular rate
A non-discretionary bonus has to be included in the regular rate, which raises the overtime owed on the hours it covers.
Someone at $22 an hour works 45 hours and earns a $50 production bonus. Straight-time earnings are (45 × $22) + $50 = $1,040, so the regular rate is $1,040 ÷ 45 = $23.11. The 5 overtime hours were already paid at straight time within that total, so a further half-time premium is owed: $23.11 × 0.5 × 5 = $57.78.
Employers who pay the bonus and calculate overtime from the base rate alone underpay every time. Attendance bonuses, production bonuses and shift differentials all fall into this category. A true holiday gift, unconnected to hours or performance, does not.
Comp time instead of pay
Private-sector employers in the US generally cannot offer time off in place of overtime pay for non-exempt staff. Public-sector employers can, at the same 1.5 rate, so an hour of overtime earns an hour and a half of leave.
Informal arrangements to "take the time back next week" fall foul of the workweek rule, because each week stands on its own. Fifty hours this week and thirty next week still owes ten hours of premium pay, whatever both sides agreed.
Overtime and shift patterns
Compressed schedules interact with the rules in ways that surprise people. Four ten-hour days is 40 hours and no federal overtime, though in California the two hours past eight each day trigger daily overtime. A rotating pattern that crosses the employer's chosen workweek boundary can put more than 40 hours into one week and fewer into the next, generating a premium neither side expected.
Keeping records
Employers are required to keep accurate records of hours worked for non-exempt staff, and in a dispute the absence of records tends to count against the employer rather than the employee. Keeping your own note of start times, finish times and unpaid breaks costs nothing and settles most disagreements before they escalate.
Common mistakes
Dividing a salary by 40 without checking. Contracts covering 37.5 or 35 hours give a higher regular rate and a higher overtime rate.
Averaging hours across two weeks. Each workweek stands alone.
Counting holiday hours toward the 40. Only hours actually worked trigger overtime.
Leaving bonuses out of the regular rate. Non-discretionary bonuses raise the rate that overtime is calculated from.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
It is 1.5 times the regular hourly rate, the US federal minimum for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. At $22 an hour it is $33. The multiplier applies to the full regular rate, including any non-discretionary bonuses folded into it.
Divide the yearly salary by 52 to get a weekly figure, then divide by the hours the salary is meant to cover. A $52,000 salary covering 40 hours gives a $25 regular rate and a $37.50 overtime rate. Check the contract for the hours figure rather than assuming 40.
No. Overtime is ordinary income taxed at the same rates as the rest of your pay. It can look higher on a single payslip because withholding sometimes treats the larger cheque as if it were your normal earnings, but that evens out when the year is assessed.
In the US, yes, for employees over 18, and refusing can be grounds for discipline. What the employer cannot do is fail to pay the premium for it. Some states and many union contracts add limits on mandatory overtime.
Not automatically under federal law. Saturday, Sunday and holiday work is paid at the regular rate unless it pushes the week past 40 hours. Many employers pay a premium anyway by policy, and California triggers overtime on a seventh consecutive workday.
Twice the regular hourly rate. Federal law does not require it at all. California mandates it beyond 12 hours in a day and beyond 8 hours on a seventh consecutive day, and elsewhere it is usually a matter of company policy or a union agreement.
The regular rate becomes a weighted average of the rates, based on hours worked at each, and the premium is calculated from that average. Some employers instead use the rate in effect when the overtime hours were worked, which is permitted with a prior agreement.
Salaried and exempt are not the same thing. A salaried employee who fails any part of the exemption test, on salary level or on actual duties, is non-exempt and owed overtime like anyone else. Being paid a salary alone does not remove the entitlement.