Overtime calculator
Overtime is paid at time and a half — 1.5 × the hourly rate — for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek. At $20 an hour, time and a half is $30, so a 46-hour week pays $980: $800 regular plus $180 overtime.
Enter your own rate and hours below. The calculator handles the federal 40-hour rule, the daily thresholds used in California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado, and double time where it applies.
Federal FLSA rule: overtime after 40 hours in a workweek.
0 turns overtime off
1.5 = time and a half
Leave blank if your policy has none
| Pay bracket | Hours | Rate | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | 40 | $20.00 | $800.00 |
| Overtime (1.5×) | 6 | $30.00 | $180.00 |
| Gross pay | 46 | $980.00 |
The overtime premium — what those hours cost you above the straight-time rate — is $60.00 this week. Over 52 weeks that is $3,120.00 for one employee at this pattern.
Gross pay before taxes and deductions. Overtime is calculated on the regular rate of pay, which for employees earning commission or non-discretionary bonuses is higher than the base hourly rate.
Time and a half rate by hourly wage
The overtime rate for common hourly wages, plus what a 45-hour week comes to once the five overtime hours are paid at 1.5×.
| Hourly rate | Time and a half (1.5×) | Double time (2×) | Gross for a 45-hour week |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $15.00 | $20.00 | $475.00 |
| $12.00 | $18.00 | $24.00 | $570.00 |
| $15.00 | $22.50 | $30.00 | $712.50 |
| $16.00 | $24.00 | $32.00 | $760.00 |
| $18.00 | $27.00 | $36.00 | $855.00 |
| $20.00 | $30.00 | $40.00 | $950.00 |
| $22.00 | $33.00 | $44.00 | $1,045.00 |
| $25.00 | $37.50 | $50.00 | $1,187.50 |
| $28.00 | $42.00 | $56.00 | $1,330.00 |
| $30.00 | $45.00 | $60.00 | $1,425.00 |
| $35.00 | $52.50 | $70.00 | $1,662.50 |
| $40.00 | $60.00 | $80.00 | $1,900.00 |
| $45.00 | $67.50 | $90.00 | $2,137.50 |
| $50.00 | $75.00 | $100.00 | $2,375.00 |
A 45-hour week is 40 hours at the base rate plus 5 at 1.5×, which is the same as 47.5 hours of straight time.
How to calculate overtime
Three steps, and the first one is where most errors happen.
- Find the regular rate of pay. For most hourly employees this is just the hourly wage. It is not, however, always the base rate: non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials and commission have to be folded in first, which means dividing total weekly earnings by hours worked. Overtime calculated on the base rate when a production bonus was also paid is underpaid overtime.
- Count the hours over the threshold. 40 in a workweek federally. The workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period that you define — it does not have to start on Monday, but once set it cannot be moved around to avoid overtime.
- Multiply. Overtime hours × regular rate × 1.5, then add it to the straight-time pay for the rest of the hours.
Worked through: 46 hours at $20 an hour. Regular pay is 40 × $20 = $800. Overtime is 6 hours × $30 = $180. Gross is $980, of which $60 is the overtime premium — the part above what those six hours would have cost at straight time.
The 40-hour week is federal. The 8-hour day is not.
The FLSA sets one overtime trigger: more than 40 hours in a workweek. There is no federal rule about long days, so four 10-hour shifts create no overtime at all. Averaging across two weeks is not allowed either — each workweek stands alone, so 30 hours one week and 50 the next owes 10 hours of overtime, not zero.
A minority of states add a daily threshold. California is the strictest: overtime after 8 hours in a workday, double time after 12, and overtime on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. Alaska and Nevada use an 8-hour daily threshold, Colorado a 12-hour one. Where a daily and a weekly rule both apply to the same hours, the employee gets whichever calculation is larger — the two are not added together. Switch the calculator above to “Workday” to model the daily rule.
What overtime actually costs
The premium is the number worth watching. Five overtime hours a week at $20 an hour is only $50 of premium — but across ten employees for a year it is $26,000, and it rarely appears as a line item anyone reviews. Overtime that is genuinely planned is cheaper than hiring; overtime that accumulates because shifts run long and nobody notices until payroll is not.
Working out which of the two you have needs hours recorded as they happen rather than reconstructed at the end of the month. ClockIt totals hours against your overtime thresholds as your team clocks in and out, and flags an employee approaching 40 hours while there is still time to change the schedule. If you want to total a week by hand first, the timecard calculator adds up individual shifts and applies the same overtime split, and the free online time clock records punches in your browser with no signup.
Exempt or non-exempt
Overtime is owed to non-exempt employees. Exemption is not a job title and not a consequence of being salaried — it requires meeting both a salary threshold and a duties test for one of the recognised categories: executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and certain computer roles. Someone paid a salary who does not meet the duties test is non-exempt and owed overtime like anyone else. Because the salary threshold is adjusted periodically, an employee correctly classified as exempt a few years ago may not be now, which is the sort of thing worth re-checking rather than inheriting.
Overtime pay — FAQs
How do you calculate overtime?
Multiply the hourly rate by 1.5 to get the overtime rate, then multiply that by the number of overtime hours. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime hours are the hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. Someone earning $20 an hour who works 46 hours is paid 40 × $20 = $800 at straight time, plus 6 × $30 = $180 in overtime, for $980 gross.
What is time and a half?
Time and a half is one and a half times the regular hourly rate — the standard overtime premium required by federal law. At $20 an hour, time and a half is $30. At $18, it is $27. The phrase describes the rate, not the hours: an hour worked at time and a half still counts as one hour, it is simply paid at 150 percent.
Is overtime after 40 hours a week or 8 hours a day?
Federally it is 40 hours in a workweek, and there is no federal daily overtime requirement — a 12-hour day followed by a short week triggers nothing under the FLSA. Several states add a daily rule on top. California pays overtime after 8 hours in a day and double time after 12, Alaska and Nevada use an 8-hour daily threshold, and Colorado uses 12. Where both rules apply you owe whichever produces the larger amount, not both stacked.
How much is time and a half for $20 an hour?
$30 an hour. Multiply the base rate by 1.5. For a 46-hour week at $20, that means $800 of regular pay plus $180 of overtime pay, or $980 in total. The overtime premium alone — the extra above straight time — is $60.
What is double time and when does it apply?
Double time is twice the regular hourly rate. No federal law requires it; it comes from state law or your own policy. California is the main statutory case, requiring double time after 12 hours in a workday and after 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. Many employers also pay it voluntarily for holidays or emergency call-outs.
Does PTO or holiday pay count toward the 40 hours?
Not for federal overtime purposes. The FLSA counts hours actually worked, so paid time off, holidays and sick leave do not push an employee over the 40-hour line. An employee who takes 8 hours of PTO and works 36 hours is paid for 44 hours but owed no overtime. Your own policy can be more generous than the law, but it has to say so explicitly.
Do salaried employees get overtime?
Some do. Being paid a salary does not by itself make someone exempt — exemption depends on meeting both a salary threshold and a duties test for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales or certain computer roles. A salaried employee below the threshold, or whose actual duties do not fit an exemption, is non-exempt and owed overtime on hours past 40. Misclassification is one of the most common wage-and-hour claims, so the duties test is worth checking rather than assuming.
Is overtime taxed at a higher rate?
The overtime itself is not taxed under a separate, higher rate — it is ordinary wage income. What people notice is withholding: a larger-than-usual paycheck can be withheld as though every check that year were that size, which pulls more tax out up front and is reconciled when the return is filed. Federal rules on how overtime pay is treated for deductions have changed in recent years, so confirm the current-year treatment with your payroll provider rather than relying on an older answer.
This page is provided for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Overtime law varies by state and by industry, and the regular rate of pay can include earnings beyond the base hourly wage. Confirm current requirements with the relevant government agency or a qualified employment attorney before making payroll decisions.