Overtime rules explained
Skip the arithmetic: the Overtime Calculator does the overtime rules explained sums on this page for you, with the same tested formulas used in the worked examples below.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a non-exempt employee must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. The workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period that the employer picks and sticks to. There is no federal requirement to pay extra for a long day — daily overtime exists only where a state imposes it. Everything below is general information, not legal advice; your state labor agency has the rules that actually bind you.
The workweek is the unit of measurement
Overtime under the FLSA is counted inside a workweek, and a workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 consecutive hours. The employer chooses when it starts — Sunday at midnight, Monday at 6 AM, Thursday at noon — and then leaves it alone. It does not have to line up with the calendar week, the pay period, or the shift pattern.
Two consequences follow, and both catch people out. First, averaging across two weeks is not permitted for FLSA purposes: 50 hours one week and 30 the next is 10 hours of overtime, not a tidy 80-hour fortnight. Second, when a shift straddles the boundary — a night shift that starts Saturday 10 PM and ends Sunday 6 AM — the hours fall into whichever week each hour actually occurred in. The mechanics of splitting such a shift are covered in calculating hours across midnight.
If you do not know your employer's workweek start, ask. Everything downstream — which hours are overtime, which pay period they land in, whether Saturday counts with last week or this one — depends on that single setting, and it is usually written in the handbook.
What 1.5x actually multiplies
The multiplier applies to the regular rate of pay, which is not always the number on the offer letter. The regular rate is an hourly figure derived from everything the employee is paid for the week, divided by the hours worked. Base wages are in it. So, generally, are non-discretionary bonuses — the kind promised in advance to induce performance or attendance, such as a production bonus or a shift differential. A genuinely discretionary gift, decided after the fact with no promise attached, is normally excluded.
This is why "time and a half" sometimes comes out higher than people expect.
45 hours worked at a $20.00 base rate, plus a $100 promised attendance bonus for the week.
Straight-time earnings = (45 × $20.00) + $100 = $900 + $100 = $1,000
Regular rate = $1,000 ÷ 45 = $22.22 per hour
Overtime premium = 5 × (0.5 × $22.22) = 5 × $11.11 = $55.55
Total = $1,000 + $55.55 = $1,055.55
Note the shape of that calculation. Because the bonus already paid for all 45 hours at straight time, only the extra half — the premium — is owed on the 5 overtime hours. Payroll systems usually express it this way to avoid paying the straight-time portion twice. If there were no bonus, the simpler form gives the same answer: 40 × $20 + 5 × $30 = $950.
Several categories of payment are generally excluded from the regular rate, including true gifts, payments for time not worked such as vacation, and certain premium payments. The list and its exceptions are detailed enough that a payroll professional should confirm any unusual payment type. Nothing here is legal advice.
No federal daily overtime — but some states have it
Work a 13-hour day and finish the week at 38 hours, and the FLSA requires no overtime premium at all. The federal statute sets no daily threshold. That surprises people, because the eight-hour day is so embedded in how we talk about work.
Some states do impose daily overtime, and the thresholds and multipliers differ between them. A few also have rules for the seventh consecutive day worked, or for extended shifts in particular industries. These rules change, so the only safe move is to check your own state labor agency rather than relying on what a colleague in another state told you. Outside the US the picture differs again — many countries regulate daily and weekly maximum hours directly, and a few treat overtime as something to be avoided through time off in lieu rather than paid as a premium.
The non-duplication principle
Where both daily and weekly overtime apply, hours are not counted twice. An hour already paid as daily overtime is excluded when you test the week against 40; otherwise an employer would owe a premium twice on the same hour. Work it through:
| Day | Worked | Daily OT | Straight hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 10.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 |
| Tuesday | 9.5 | 1.5 | 8.0 |
| Wednesday | 8.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| Thursday | 11.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 |
| Friday | 8.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| Saturday | 6.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| Week | 52.5 | 6.5 | 46.0 |
Daily overtime accounts for 6.5 hours. The straight-hours column totals 46.0, so 6.0 of those exceed 40 and become weekly overtime. Total premium hours: 6.5 + 6.0 = 12.5, with 40.0 paid at the regular rate. Add them up — 40.0 + 12.5 = 52.5 — and they reconcile to the hours actually worked, which is the test that tells you the non-duplication was applied correctly. The overtime calculator lets you switch daily and weekly thresholds on and off independently and shows exactly this split.
Exempt and non-exempt, in general terms
Overtime protection attaches to non-exempt employees. Certain employees are exempt from the overtime requirement — broadly, some executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer-related roles, plus a handful of narrower categories. Exemption generally depends on two things together: how the employee is paid (a salary at or above a threshold, for most of the exemptions) and what the employee actually does day to day.
Three points practitioners repeat because they come up constantly:
- A job title proves nothing. Calling someone a manager does not make them exempt; the actual duties do the work.
- Salary alone proves nothing either. Being paid a salary does not by itself remove overtime rights. Salaried non-exempt employees exist and are owed overtime.
- The salary threshold changes. Figures get revised, and some states set their own higher ones. Do not carry a number in your head — look it up each time it matters.
Classification disputes are genuinely consequential and genuinely technical. If you have reason to think a role is misclassified, that is a conversation for a qualified adviser, not a calculator.
What counts as hours worked
You cannot calculate overtime until you know which minutes count. The general principle is that time an employee is required or permitted to work counts, whether or not anyone asked for it.
| Situation | General treatment |
|---|---|
| Short rest breaks (a coffee break) | Generally counted as hours worked and paid |
| Bona fide meal period, fully relieved of duty | Generally not hours worked |
| Meal period interrupted by work | The worked portion generally counts |
| Waiting time while engaged to wait | Generally counts |
| Donning and doffing integral protective gear | May count; depends heavily on the facts |
| Required training during normal hours | Generally counts |
| Work performed voluntarily off the clock | Generally counts if the employer knew or should have known |
| Ordinary home-to-work commuting | Generally does not count |
| Paid holiday, vacation or sick leave | Paid, but generally not hours worked |
Two rows deserve emphasis. The last one is the single most common overtime surprise: paid leave is usually excluded from the 40-hour count, so 36 worked hours plus an 8-hour paid holiday is 44 paid hours with no overtime due. The gear row is the opposite kind of trap — whether changing clothes counts has been litigated extensively and turns on specifics like whether the gear is integral to the job and where it must be put on. It is not a question you should settle from a web page. For the break question specifically, lunch breaks: paid or unpaid? goes deeper.
A full worked week with pay
Non-exempt employee, $23.60 per hour, no bonus, federal weekly rule only.
Mon 9:12, Tue 8:48, Wed 10:06, Thu 8:00, Fri 7:54 → 44.00 hours
Regular: 40 × $23.60 = $944.00
Overtime: 4 × ($23.60 × 1.5) = 4 × $35.40 = $141.60
Gross = $1,085.60
Now change one thing. Suppose Wednesday's 10.1 hours sat in a state with daily overtime after 8 hours. Those extra 2.1 hours become daily overtime, leaving 41.9 straight hours, of which 1.9 exceed 40 and become weekly overtime. Premium hours total 4.0 either way in this particular week — a coincidence, not a rule. Shift the hours around and the two regimes diverge quickly, which is the whole reason the non-duplication step exists.
How to check your own overtime
- Establish the workweek start. Everything else is meaningless without it.
- List hours actually worked, day by day, and strip out paid leave into a separate column.
- Total the worked hours only. Use minutes and convert once — see convert minutes to decimal hours.
- Apply any daily rule first, then test the remaining straight hours against 40.
- Work out the regular rate for that week, including any non-discretionary bonus, before applying the multiplier.
- Reconcile: regular hours plus premium hours must equal hours worked.
The time card calculator and the timesheet calculator both carry out steps two through four, including the daily-then-weekly ordering, and keep your week in your own browser via localStorage with nothing uploaded. If you only need to total the hours in the first place, start with how to calculate hours worked.
If the numbers do not add up
Start with the records, not the argument. Keep your own contemporaneous note of punch times — a phone note is fine — and compare it against the pay stub for the same workweek. Identify whether the gap is in the hours recorded, the classification of certain minutes as unpaid, the regular rate used, or the workweek boundary. Those four causes need four different conversations, and naming the right one gets you taken seriously much faster.
If a discrepancy persists after you raise it internally, your state labor agency and the federal wage and hour authority both accept inquiries from employees, and they are the appropriate route. A calculator and a guide can tell you what the arithmetic should be. They cannot tell you what the law requires in your situation, because overtime rules vary by state and by country and turn on facts a web page cannot see. Treat this article as general information rather than legal or payroll advice, and get qualified help before acting on a large sum.
For background on how this site computes hours — integer minute arithmetic, no network request, 50 automated unit tests over the formulas — see how it works, or tell us if you spot an error.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions
When does overtime start under federal law?
After 40 hours worked in a single workweek. The FLSA requires non-exempt employees to receive at least one and a half times their regular rate for each hour beyond that threshold.
The count resets every workweek and cannot be averaged across two weeks, so 50 hours followed by 30 hours produces 10 overtime hours rather than none. Some states add their own rules on top, and this is general information rather than legal advice — check your state labor agency for what applies where you work.
What exactly is a workweek?
A fixed, recurring period of 168 consecutive hours — seven 24-hour days. The employer chooses the start day and time and then keeps it consistent; it does not have to match the calendar week or the pay period.
That setting decides which side of the line a late Saturday night shift falls on, and therefore whether those hours trigger overtime. If you do not know your employer's workweek start, ask, because every overtime calculation depends on it.
Does the FLSA require overtime after 8 hours in a day?
No. The federal statute sets no daily overtime threshold, so a 12-hour day in a 38-hour week carries no federal overtime obligation.
Some states do impose daily overtime, with their own thresholds and multipliers, and a few have additional rules for consecutive days worked. Those vary and change over time, so verify with your state labor agency rather than assuming the eight-hour day is universally protected.
What is the regular rate of pay?
It is the hourly figure that the overtime multiplier applies to, calculated from the employee's total straight-time earnings for the week divided by the hours worked. It is usually higher than the base hourly rate when extra pay is involved.
Non-discretionary bonuses — those promised in advance for production, attendance or similar — generally go into the calculation. A true discretionary gift decided after the fact generally does not. Payment types vary enough that a payroll professional should confirm unusual cases.
How does a bonus change overtime pay?
A non-discretionary bonus raises the regular rate for that week, which raises the overtime premium. For 45 hours at $20 plus a promised $100 bonus: straight-time earnings are $1,000, so the regular rate is $1,000 ÷ 45 = $22.22.
Because the bonus already covered all 45 hours at straight time, only the half-time premium is owed on the 5 overtime hours: 5 × $11.11 = $55.55, for $1,055.55 total. Skipping this step is a frequent underpayment.
Does paid time off count toward the 40 hours?
Generally no. Overtime is owed for hours actually worked, and paid holidays, vacation and sick leave are typically not treated as hours worked under the FLSA.
So 36 worked hours plus an 8-hour paid holiday is 44 paid hours with no overtime due. Some employers count holiday hours toward overtime by policy or collective agreement, which is permitted because it is more generous than the floor. Check your handbook for which approach applies.
If both daily and weekly overtime apply, do hours count twice?
No — that is the non-duplication principle. An hour already paid as daily overtime is removed before the week is tested against the 40-hour threshold, so no hour earns the premium twice.
Take a 52.5-hour week with 6.5 hours of daily overtime: 46.0 straight hours remain, 6.0 of which exceed 40 and become weekly overtime. Premium hours total 12.5, plus 40.0 regular hours, which reconciles exactly to the 52.5 worked.
What makes an employee exempt from overtime?
Exemption generally depends on both how the employee is paid and what they actually do. Most of the common exemptions require a salary at or above a threshold plus duties falling within executive, administrative, professional, outside sales or certain computer categories.
A job title does not create an exemption, and being salaried does not by itself remove overtime rights — salaried non-exempt employees are owed overtime. Thresholds change and some states set higher ones, so look them up rather than relying on memory.
Do short rest breaks have to be paid?
Short rest breaks are generally treated as hours worked and therefore paid, while a bona fide meal period during which the employee is fully relieved of duty generally is not.
If work intrudes on a meal period — answering the phone, covering the counter — the worked portion generally counts. Several states add their own break entitlements with specific lengths and timing, so confirm the local rule with your state labor agency.
What should I do if my overtime looks wrong on my pay stub?
Work out which of four things is off: the hours recorded, which minutes were treated as unpaid, the regular rate used, or the workweek boundary. Keep your own contemporaneous note of punch times and compare it against the stub for the same workweek.
Raise it internally first with the specific figures. If it is not resolved, your state labor agency and the federal wage and hour authority both take employee inquiries. For anything substantial, get qualified advice — a guide like this one is general information, not legal advice.
Last reviewed 1 November 2026. Corrections welcome at our contact page.