November 4, 2026 Last updated: November 14, 2026 10 min read

How to Calculate Overtime Pay Under the FLSA

For a covered, non-exempt employee, federal overtime is at least 1.5 times the regular rate for each hour worked over 40 in a workweek. Add the hours in that fixed week, find the regular rate, and calculate the extra pay. Bonuses and different hourly rates can change the rate used in the calculation.

Start with the hours and the rate

At a single hourly rate with no bonus or other included pay, multiply the first 40 hours by the hourly rate and the hours over 40 by 1.5 times that rate. For example, 46 hours at $20 an hour gives $800 for the first 40 hours and $180 for the next six, or $980 before deductions.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets this weekly minimum for covered, non-exempt employees. It does not itself require overtime just because a shift is long or falls on a weekend or holiday. State law, an employment agreement or a union contract may provide more.

Five steps for a straightforward hourly week

1. Identify the start and end of the employer's workweek and add the time actually worked within it. The hours calculator can add shifts and subtract unpaid breaks.
2. Subtract 40 from the total. If the result is zero or less, there are no federal overtime hours for that week.
3. Find the regular rate. If the hourly wage is the only pay included in the rate, use that wage.
4. Multiply the first 40 hours by the rate and the overtime hours by 1.5 times the rate.
5. Add the amounts to find gross pay for the week, before taxes and other deductions.

For a week with 40 or fewer hours, multiply the hours worked by the hourly rate instead. This simple calculation assumes the same rate for all hours and no bonus; the examples below show what to do when those assumptions change.

Use the actual workweek

A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It can start on any day and at any hour. It does not have to match the calendar week or the dates on a two-week paycheck.

Calculate overtime separately for each workweek, even when one paycheck covers both. A 30-hour week followed by a 50-hour week has 10 federal overtime hours in the second week, not zero based on the 40-hour average. At $20 an hour, the two weeks total $600 and $1,100, or $1,700 gross.

A shift that crosses the boundary belongs partly to each workweek. If the workweek ends at midnight Sunday and an employee works Sunday from 10 PM to Monday at 6 AM, two hours fall in the ending week and six in the new week, assuming no unpaid break. Add each part to its own week before applying the 40-hour test.

Check the established boundary with payroll before totaling shifts. The date calculator can help identify the dates in a pay period, but the pay period and the workweek are separate things.

Work out paid time accurately

Count time the employer requires or permits the employee to work, including required pre-shift meetings and closing duties. Work performed without advance approval still counts if the employer knows or has reason to believe it is being performed. A rule requiring permission does not erase pay for work already done.

Short rest breaks, usually 20 minutes or less, count as work time under the federal guidance. A bona fide meal period generally is not work time if the employee is completely relieved of duties. Do not subtract a lunch automatically when the employee actually worked through it.

If this shift happened five times in the same workweek, the total would be 42.5 hours, including 2.5 federal overtime hours. At $20 an hour with no other included pay, gross wages would be $800 plus $75, or $875. If the meal was interrupted by work, check the actual facts before subtracting that time.

Convert minutes to fractions of an hour before multiplying: 15 minutes is 0.25 hour, 30 is 0.50 and 45 is 0.75. Thus 7 hours 45 minutes is 7.75 hours, not 7.45. The guide to minutes and decimal hours has a conversion table.

The regular rate can include more than the wage

The regular rate generally includes compensation for work such as shift differentials, commissions and nondiscretionary bonuses, subject to statutory exclusions. A production, attendance or safety bonus promised in advance is generally included. A qualifying discretionary bonus or holiday gift can be excluded; calling a bonus discretionary does not settle the question.

For the federal example below, the $90 production bonus is earned entirely in this workweek. Divide straight-time earnings plus the bonus by all hours worked to find the regular rate, then add the remaining overtime premium.

The extra premium is one-half of the regular rate because the $990 already includes straight-time pay for all 45 hours and the bonus. Adding another full 1.5 times the regular rate on top of that amount would count straight time for the overtime hours twice.

A bonus earned over several weeks needs a separate allocation to the weeks in which it was earned, followed by a recalculation of overtime for those weeks. Keep the bonus terms and weekly hours with the pay records; the date the bonus appears on a paycheck alone does not determine which week earned it. State rules can require a different calculation, including for some California flat-sum bonuses.

Two hourly rates in one week

When the same employer pays different straight-time rates for different jobs in a week, the federal regular rate is generally the weighted average. Add the straight-time earnings at both rates and divide by the combined hours, then add the half-time premium for hours above 40. Certain other methods are permitted under specific conditions.

This example has no bonus or other included compensation. Keep the unrounded rate through the calculation and round the resulting pay to cents. Using the rate of the last job alone would not produce the weighted average shown here.

Rounding time clock entries

Federal regulations recognize rounding starting and stopping times to the nearest 5 minutes, one tenth of an hour or quarter hour if the practice does not, over time, fail to compensate employees properly for all time worked. A system that always rounds in the employer's favor does not meet that condition. State rules may differ.

With ordinary nearest-quarter-hour rounding, a punch 1 to 7 minutes after a quarter hour rounds down and one 8 to 14 minutes after it rounds up. For example, 8:07 rounds to 8:00 and 8:08 rounds to 8:15. Apply the policy consistently to both start and end times, and compare rounded records with actual time to check its effect.

State rules can add daily overtime

Federal law generally measures overtime by the week, so a 12-hour day alone does not create federal overtime if the employee works no more than 40 hours that week. California has daily and seventh-day rules for many non-exempt employees, with exceptions and alternative schedules in some cases.

For example, a covered California employee who works one 13-hour day at a $20 regular rate, with no other work that week, generally earns $160 for the first eight hours, $120 for the next four and $40 for the last hour: $320 gross. Federal weekly overtime alone would not add a premium to that 13-hour week.

Do not simply add daily and weekly overtime hours together without checking the applicable state calculation. Check the state labor department and any applicable agreement for the employee's occupation and schedule. Where both federal and state rules apply, the more protective requirement generally controls.

Check the pay record

Compare the workweek boundary, each shift and break, the total hours, included bonuses and the overtime rate with the pay statement. Save schedules, time records and bonus terms if there is a difference, and ask payroll to explain the calculation. The Department of Labor's wage and hour office or the state labor agency can explain how to raise a wage concern.

An employee cannot waive federal overtime rights by agreeing to straight time. Private-sector employers generally cannot substitute compensatory time off for overtime pay. To check your own week, enter each shift and its unpaid breaks in the hours calculator, then compare the total with the payroll record.

Frequently asked questions