Overtime pay calculator

Time and a half, double time, and the question the other calculators skip: are you actually owed overtime in the first place? Real FLSA rules, real math.

How the math works

Overtime pay is one multiplication once you know two things: how many hours cross the weekly line, and what rate they earn. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, covered non-exempt workers earn 1.5× their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek.

The multiplier is 1.5 for federal time and a half. It becomes 2 only where a state daily-overtime law or an employment contract says so — federal law never requires double time. The 40-hour line is weekly, not daily: the FLSA does not care whether you worked those hours across four days or seven, and it owes nothing extra for nights, weekends, or holidays on their own.

Worked example

Take a worker paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour who works 45 hours in a week. The first 40 hours pay straight time: $290. The 5 overtime hours pay $7.25 × 1.5 = $10.88 each, so $54.38. Total for the week: $344.38.

Now suppose that same worker earned a $100 production bonus that week. Overtime isn't calculated on the base $7.25 anymore. The FLSA "regular rate" folds the bonus into the hourly figure: ($7.25 × 45 + $100) ÷ 45 = $9.47 an hour. The five overtime hours now carry an extra half-time premium on that higher rate. A calculator that multiplies the base wage by 1.5 and stops has just underpaid the overtime.

When this calculator is wrong

The biggest error an overtime calculator can make isn't arithmetic. It's answering a question you weren't entitled to ask. Every result above assumes you are a covered, non-exempt worker. Millions of salaried workers are not.

• Eligibility comes first, and no calculator checks it. If you're paid a salary of at least $684 a week ($35,568 a year) and your job meets the FLSA duties test for an executive, administrative, or professional role, you are exempt — you earn zero overtime no matter how many hours you log. Below $684 a week, you're automatically non-exempt and owed overtime whatever your title says. The "Am I eligible?" mode above checks the salary half of that test; the duties half is a judgment call, not a number.
• Double time is not a federal right. The 2× option every overtime calculator offers implies it's a standard you might be owed. Federal law stops at 1.5×. The 2× rate exists only where a state law creates it — California, for instance, requires double time past 12 hours in a workday and past 8 hours on the seventh consecutive workday — or where a union or employment contract does. If you pick 2× and no such rule covers you, the number is fiction.
• The regular rate isn't always your base wage. Nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions have to be rolled into the rate that overtime is figured on. Use base pay alone and the overtime is understated, sometimes by real money over a year of production bonuses.

What to do with the result

Run the eligibility mode before you trust the pay figure. If your weekly salary is under $684, you're owed overtime and the pay number stands — if your paycheck doesn't reflect it, that's a wage claim, not a rounding difference. If you're over the line, the answer is "it depends on your duties," and the practical next step is the U.S. Department of Labor's own exemption guidance or a call to your state labor office. Above the threshold with a genuinely exempt job, the honest result is that overtime math doesn't apply to you at all.

Common questions

Is overtime always time and a half?

Under federal law, yes — 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a week is the only federal overtime rate. There is no federal double time. A higher multiplier only applies where a state law or a contract requires it.

Do salaried employees get overtime?

Some do. Being salaried doesn't make you exempt. If your salary is below $684 a week ($35,568 a year), you're owed overtime regardless of title. Above that, you're exempt only if your actual job duties meet the FLSA executive, administrative, or professional test.

Does overtime kick in after 8 hours in a day?

Not under federal law — the FLSA only counts hours over 40 in a workweek, with no daily trigger. Some states add daily overtime. California pays 1.5× after 8 hours in a day and 2× after 12, on top of the weekly rule.

Is a bonus included in overtime pay?

Nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, and shift differentials are. They get added into the "regular rate" that overtime is computed on, which raises the overtime rate above your base hourly wage. Purely discretionary bonuses — ones not promised in advance — are excluded.

Are weekends and holidays paid at overtime rates?

Not because they're weekends or holidays. Federal law ties overtime to the 40-hour weekly threshold, not to which day the hours fall on. Weekend or holiday premiums are a matter of employer policy or contract, not the FLSA.