Overtime calculator for hourly pay and time and a half

This overtime calculator follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires time and a half for non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Enter your hourly rate and your total hours for one workweek. If you earned a production bonus, a shift differential or another non-discretionary payment that week, add it too, because it changes the rate your overtime is paid at.

The federal overtime rule, explained

Under the FLSA, a non-exempt employee must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. Four details decide most overtime questions.

• The workweek is fixed. It is any seven consecutive 24-hour periods the employer sets, such as Sunday 12:00 a.m. to Saturday 11:59 p.m. Each week stands alone. You cannot average 30 hours one week and 50 the next.
• Only hours worked count. Paid holidays, PTO and sick time are not hours worked, so they do not count toward the 40 unless your employer’s policy says they do. Our guide to holiday pay rules covers this in detail.
• There is no federal daily limit. Working 12 hours on Monday does not trigger federal overtime by itself. Some states add daily overtime, covered below.
• The rate is the regular rate, not just the base rate. If you earn extra pay that the employer promised, the overtime rate goes up.

The formula for an employee paid only by the hour is simple: weekly pay = 40 × rate + (hours − 40) × rate × 1.5. For a deeper walk-through with salaried non-exempt and multiple-rate examples, read how to calculate overtime.

Overtime pay examples

These examples use the overtime calculator’s rules with no bonus. Figures are gross pay before taxes.

Overtime adds up quickly. Ten extra hours at $25 an hour is worth $375, which is 37.5% more pay for 25% more time. If your hours come from a paper time card, add them up first with our time card calculator, which handles unpaid lunch breaks.

How bonuses and differentials change overtime

The FLSA requires overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate. The regular rate is all pay for the workweek divided by all hours worked, after leaving out certain excluded payments.

Included: hourly wages, shift differentials, non-discretionary bonuses (attendance, production, safety or retention bonuses that employees expect), and commissions. Excluded: discretionary bonuses the employer decides on freely, gifts, expense reimbursements, and pay for time not worked such as PTO and holidays.

Here is how it works. An employee earns $20 an hour, works 46 hours and gets a $60 attendance bonus:

1. Straight-time pay: 46 × $20 = $920.
2. Regular rate: ($920 + $60) ÷ 46 hours = $21.30 an hour.
3. Overtime premium: 6 hours × $21.30 × 0.5 = $63.91.
4. Total pay: $920 + $60 + $63.91 = $1,043.91.

Without the bonus the employee would get $980. With it, the bonus adds $60 directly plus $3.91 of extra overtime premium. Night and weekend premiums work the same way; our guide to shift differential pay shows the math for a night shift.

State daily overtime rules

Most states follow the federal 40-hour weekly rule, but some require more. When state and federal law differ, the employer must follow whichever rule pays the employee more.

• California: time and a half after 8 hours in a workday and for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek; double time after 12 hours in a workday and after 8 hours on the seventh day. Details are in our California overtime law guide.
• Alaska: overtime after 8 hours in a day as well as after 40 in a week, for covered employers.
• Colorado: overtime after 12 hours in a workday or 12 consecutive hours, as well as after 40 in a week.
• Nevada: daily overtime after 8 hours in a 24-hour period for employees earning less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage, unless an alternative schedule applies.

A quick example shows why this matters. An employee in California earns $20 an hour and works three 12-hour shifts, 36 hours in total. Federal law owes no overtime: 36 × $20 = $720. California owes 4 hours of daily overtime each day, 12 hours in total: 24 × $20 + 12 × $30 = $840. Check your state labor department for the rules that apply to you, because exemptions and alternative workweek schedules change the result.

Who gets overtime

Overtime applies to non-exempt employees. Most hourly workers are non-exempt. An employee is exempt only if they meet all of these tests:

1. They are paid on a salary basis, a fixed amount that does not drop with the hours or quality of work.
2. The salary meets the minimum salary level under federal law and, where it is higher, under state law.
3. Their main duties fit an exemption, such as executive, administrative, professional, computer or outside sales.

Job titles do not decide exemption. A “shift manager” who spends most of the day running a register is usually non-exempt. Our exempt vs non-exempt guide walks through each test and the states with higher salary thresholds.

What employers need to get right

Most overtime claims come from records and policies, not from arithmetic.

• Unapproved overtime still has to be paid. If an employee works the hours and you knew or should have known, you owe the overtime. You can discipline someone for breaking an approval rule, but you cannot refuse to pay for the time.
• Off-the-clock work counts. Answering messages after a shift, pre-shift meetings and required security checks can all be hours worked.
• Rounding must be neutral. Rounding punches to the nearest 5, 10 or 15 minutes is allowed only if, over time, it does not shortchange employees.
• Keep the records. The FLSA requires employers to keep payroll records for at least three years and time cards for at least two.

The cleanest fix is a time clock app that records actual start, break and end times, so overtime is calculated from real punches rather than estimates.

Frequently asked questions