The short version
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 over 40 in a workweek. So the calculation has three steps:
- Count the hours you actually worked in the workweek.
- Work out your regular rate of pay for that week.
- Pay every hour over 40 at 1.5 × that regular rate.
If you are paid a single hourly wage and nothing else, your regular rate is just that wage and the whole thing takes one line of maths. The steps below cover what to do when it is not that simple.
Step 1: Count hours worked in the workweek
A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour days (29 CFR §778.105). It does not have to start on Monday, but your employer cannot shift it around to dodge overtime. Each workweek stands alone.
Two-week pay periods do not change this. Working 50 hours one week and 30 the next is 10 hours of overtime, not zero, even though the pay period totals 80 hours. Overtime is assessed per workweek, never averaged across a pay period.
What counts as hours worked:
- Short rest breaks count. Breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes are paid working time (29 CFR §785.18).
- Genuine meal breaks do not. A meal period of usually 30 minutes or more, where you are fully relieved of duty, is not working time (29 CFR §785.19). Eating at your desk while answering the phone is working time.
- Paid time off does not count toward 40 under federal law. Holiday, vacation and sick hours are paid, but they are not hours worked, so a week with 8 hours of holiday pay and 36 hours on the job has no federal overtime. Some employers and union contracts count them anyway — check your policy.
If your hours are in clock times rather than totals, the hours calculator will add them up, and the minutes to decimal chart converts leftover minutes.
Step 2: Work out your regular rate
Your regular rate is not always your base hourly wage. It is your total straight-time pay for the week divided by the total hours worked (DOL Fact Sheet #56A). It generally has to include:
- Non-discretionary bonuses — production, attendance, safety and similar bonuses you were promised for meeting a target
- Shift differentials and hazard pay
- Commissions
Truly discretionary bonuses, such as an unannounced holiday gift, gifts, expense reimbursements and pay for time off are generally left out.
Step 3: Apply time and a half
For a plain hourly wage:
Overtime pay = hours over 40 × hourly rate × 1.5
When extra pay has raised your regular rate, it is easier to use the equivalent half-time method: all hours, including overtime hours, are already paid once at straight time, so the overtime hours only need the extra half on top.
Overtime premium = hours over 40 × regular rate × 0.5
Worked examples
1. Hourly wage only
$18 an hour, 46 hours worked.
| Regular pay | 40 × $18 | $720.00 |
| Overtime pay | 6 × $27 (1.5 × $18) | $162.00 |
| Gross pay | $882.00 |
2. With a production bonus
$20 an hour, 45 hours worked, and a $100 production bonus for that week.
| Straight-time pay | 45 × $20 + $100 bonus | $1,000.00 |
| Regular rate | $1,000 ÷ 45 hours | $22.22 |
| Overtime premium | 5 × $22.22 × 0.5 | $55.56 |
| Gross pay | $1,055.56 |
Ignoring the bonus would give overtime of 5 × $30 = $150 on top of $800 regular pay and the $100 bonus — $1,050. The $5.56 difference is small in one week and adds up across a year; it is one of the most common overtime mistakes, and overtime violations make up most of the back wages the Department of Labor recovers.
3. Two different pay rates in one week
30 hours at $20 in one role and 15 hours at $16 in another, for the same employer.
| Straight-time pay | 30 × $20 + 15 × $16 | $840.00 |
| Regular rate (weighted average) | $840 ÷ 45 hours | $18.67 |
| Overtime premium | 5 × $18.67 × 0.5 | $46.67 |
| Gross pay | $886.67 |
The weighted average is the default method. Paying overtime at the rate of whichever job you were doing at the time is allowed only in specific circumstances agreed in advance.
Who is not entitled to overtime
Exempt employees are not owed overtime, but being on a salary does not make you exempt by itself. To be exempt, you generally have to meet both a minimum salary test and a duties test for an executive, administrative, professional, computer or outside sales role — and job titles do not decide it (DOL Fact Sheet #17A). Plenty of salaried employees are still non-exempt and owed overtime.
When state law gives you more
Federal law sets the floor. Where a state rule is more generous, the more generous rule applies. The biggest difference is daily overtime: California pays overtime after 8 hours in a day and double time after 12 — see California overtime rules for how that interacts with the weekly total. Alaska and Nevada also have daily rules, and Colorado adds overtime after 12 hours in a day.
Skip the maths. The overtime calculator does steps 1 to 3 from your hours and rate, and the time card calculator works it out from your actual punches, with federal, daily or California rules.
This guide explains the general federal rules. It is not legal advice, and your employer's written policy, a union contract or your state's law may give you more.
Common questions
How do you calculate time and a half?
Multiply your hourly rate by 1.5. At $20 an hour, time and a half is $30 an hour. Multiply that by the number of hours you worked over 40 in the workweek to get your overtime pay.
Is overtime calculated weekly or per pay period?
Weekly. Under federal law each workweek is assessed on its own, so 50 hours one week and 30 the next is 10 hours of overtime, even if both weeks fall in the same pay period.
Do holiday or vacation hours count toward overtime?
Not under federal law. Paid time off is not time worked, so it does not count toward the 40 hours. Some employers and union contracts count it anyway, so check your written policy.
Does a bonus increase my overtime rate?
A non-discretionary bonus does. It is added to your straight-time pay and divided by the hours you worked, which raises your regular rate, and your overtime is based on that higher figure.
I am salaried. Can I still get overtime?
Yes, if you are non-exempt. Being paid a salary does not make you exempt on its own; you generally need to meet both a salary level test and a duties test.