Overtime Pay Calculator

Overtime pay calculations follow federal or regional labor law rules that require employees to be compensated at a premium rate for hours worked beyond the standard threshold. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the federal minimum at 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 per week.

Regular hourly rate: Regular Rate = Annual Salary ÷ (52 × 40) (for salaried workers) Or simply the stated hourly wage for hourly workers.

Overtime rate: Overtime Rate = Regular Rate × 1.5 (federal minimum; some states require 2×)

Weekly pay formula: Weekly Pay = (Regular Hours × Regular Rate) + (Overtime Hours × Overtime Rate)

Where:

• Regular Hours: hours up to the standard threshold (typically 40/week)
• Overtime Hours: hours exceeding 40/week
• 1.5× (“time and a half”): the FLSA-mandated federal minimum premium
• 2× (“double time”): required in California for hours over 12 in a day, and all hours on the 7th consecutive day of work

What each variable means:

• Blended rate: total earnings divided by total hours; useful for comparing different work arrangements
• Exempt vs. non-exempt: salaried employees earning over $684/week (2024 federal threshold) are often exempt from FLSA overtime; check state law as thresholds vary
• Comp time: public sector employers may offer compensatory time off instead of pay; private employers generally cannot

Reference: overtime rules by jurisdiction:

• Federal (FLSA): 1.5× after 40 hours/week
• California: 1.5× after 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week; 2× after 12 hours/day
• Nevada: 1.5× after 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week
• Alaska: 1.5× after 8 hours/day

Worked example: Hourly rate: $22/hour. Hours worked this week: 48 hours (40 regular + 8 overtime). Federal rules apply.

• Regular pay = 40 × $22 = $880
• Overtime rate = $22 × 1.5 = $33/hour
• Overtime pay = 8 × $33 = $264
• Weekly total = $880 + $264 = $1,144

Annual equivalent if this schedule continues: $1,144 × 52 = $59,488 vs. $45,760 at straight-time 40 hours — an extra $13,728/year.

Overtime is calculated by workweek, not by pay period. A biweekly paycheck covers two separate 7-day workweeks. If you worked 50 hours one week and 30 the next, you don’t average out to 40; you’re owed 10 hours of overtime for the first week regardless. Employers occasionally try to spread hours across pay periods to dodge overtime, but that’s a Fair Labor Standards Act violation. Colorado adds a 12-hour daily threshold on top of the 40-hour weekly one, and California’s daily-OT rules trigger on individual days even if the weekly total stays below 40.