Overtime calculator

The federal overtime rule

The Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules say that non-exempt employees must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is any fixed, repeating period of 168 hours (seven days in a row). It doesn't have to start on Sunday, but your employer can't change it to avoid overtime, and hours can't be averaged across weeks.

The FLSA doesn't require extra pay for nights, weekends or holidays, and it doesn't cap how many hours adults can work. What it protects is the 40-hour line. Many employers pay more than the law requires, so check your contract or handbook too.

A worked example

Maria earns $18 an hour and works 9, 9, 10, 9 and 11 hours from Monday to Friday: 48 hours. Under the federal rule, 40 hours are regular (40 × $18 = $720) and 8 are overtime at $27 (8 × $27 = $216). Her week pays $936 before tax. In California the same week is counted day by day: every hour past 8 on a day is overtime (1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 = 8 hours), which happens to give the same total. If one of those days had been 13 hours, California would pay its 13th hour at double time.

State daily overtime rules

Most states follow the federal 40-hour week. These four add rules about long days:

California sets its rules in Labor Code section 510, and an employer can adopt an alternative workweek, such as four 10-hour days, if two-thirds of the affected employees approve it in a secret ballot. Alaska's rule is in its Wage and Hour Act (AS 23.10.060); employers with three or fewer employees can pay straight time. Nevada's daily overtime (NRS 608.018) applies to employees earning under 1.5 times the minimum wage, which is $18.00 an hour while the minimum wage is $12.00. It doesn't apply to people who agree with their employer to work four 10-hour days a week. Colorado's rules come from its COMPS Order, which also counts 12 hours in a row even when a shift crosses into the next workday. This calculator works with daily totals, so check a shift like that by hand.

Who doesn't get overtime

"Exempt" employees aren't covered by the overtime rules. The best-known exemptions are for executive, administrative and professional employees who are paid a salary above a set threshold and whose main duties meet the Department of Labor's tests. Some outside sales, computer and other jobs have their own rules, and states can set higher thresholds than the federal one. A job title alone doesn't make anyone exempt.

Your regular rate may be more than your hourly wage

Overtime is 1.5 times your regular rate, and that can include shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses, such as a production or attendance bonus, as well as your base wage. If you earn these, your true overtime rate may be higher than this calculator shows. For questions about your own pay, contact the US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or your state labor office, such as California's Labor Commissioner.

Need the hours first? The time card calculator turns clock-in and clock-out times into daily totals, and the hours calculator works out a single shift. For just the 1.5× rate, see the time and a half calculator. To see what regular overtime adds up to over a year, try the hourly to salary calculator.