How is overtime calculated?
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a nonexempt employee must be paid at least time and one-half the regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. That is the federal minimum standard, and employers can pay more.
The math takes three steps:
- Find your overtime rate. Regular hourly rate x 1.5. At $20 an hour, that is $30.
- Count your overtime hours. Total hours in the workweek minus 40. A 50-hour week has 10 overtime hours.
- Add it up. (40 x regular rate) + (overtime hours x overtime rate). For $20 and 50 hours: $800 + $300 = $1,100.
The calculator above does these steps for you. Enter your rate, total hours and any double-time hours, and it shows your overtime pay, total for the week and what a year of weeks like this would add up to, all before taxes.
What counts as a workweek?
The Department of Labor defines a workweek as a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It does not have to run Sunday to Saturday. Your employer can start it on any day and hour, but once set, it stays fixed.
Each workweek stands alone. Averaging hours over two or more weeks is not allowed, so 30 hours one week and 50 the next still means 10 hours of overtime in the second week, even on a biweekly paycheck.
Time and a half pay at $15, $20, $25 and $30 an hour
Here is total weekly pay, before taxes, at common hourly rates. Every hour past 40 is paid at 1.5 times the base rate.
| Hourly rate | Overtime rate | 45 hours | 50 hours | 60 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $22.50 | $712.50 | $825.00 | $1,050.00 |
| $20.00 | $30.00 | $950.00 | $1,100.00 | $1,400.00 |
| $25.00 | $37.50 | $1,187.50 | $1,375.00 | $1,750.00 |
| $30.00 | $45.00 | $1,425.00 | $1,650.00 | $2,100.00 |
At $25 an hour, a 60-hour week adds $750 of overtime to $1,000 of regular pay. Twenty overtime hours are worth the same as 30 straight-time hours.
If your hours include minutes, such as 47 hours and 20 minutes, convert the minutes to a decimal first. Our time to decimal calculator has a full minutes chart.
What is your regular rate of pay?
The 1.5 multiplier applies to your regular rate, which is not always your base hourly wage. The Department of Labor says the regular rate includes all pay for employment except a short list of exclusions.
Included in the regular rate:
- Hourly wages, salary, piece rates and commissions
- Shift differentials, such as an extra $1 an hour for nights
- Nondiscretionary bonuses, meaning bonuses you are promised or expect, such as attendance, production, safety or quality bonuses
Excluded from the regular rate:
- Discretionary bonuses, where the employer decides at or near the end of the period whether to pay and how much
- Gifts on holidays or special occasions that are not tied to hours or production
- Expense reimbursements
- Pay for vacation, holidays or sick days when no work is done
Example: overtime with a bonus
Jordan Lee earns $20 an hour at Northwind Logistics and works 45 hours. Jordan also earns a $90 attendance bonus that week.
- Straight-time pay: 45 x $20 = $900
- Add the bonus: $900 + $90 = $990
- Regular rate: $990 / 45 = $22.00
- Half-time premium: $22.00 x 0.5 = $11.00
- Overtime premium: $11.00 x 5 overtime hours = $55.00
- Total: $990 + $55 = $1,045
If payroll ignored the bonus and paid $30 an hour for overtime, Jordan would get $1,040. The $5 gap looks small, but it repeats every week a bonus is earned.
Who is exempt from overtime?
Most hourly workers are nonexempt and must get overtime. Exempt employees, who are not owed overtime, usually must pass three tests under the FLSA’s white-collar exemptions:
- Salary basis: paid a predetermined amount each pay period that is not cut because of the quality or quantity of work.
- Salary level: at least $684 per week, which equals $35,568 a year.
- Duties: a primary duty that is executive, administrative, professional, computer-related or outside sales, as defined in DOL rules.
The Department of Labor is clear that job titles do not decide exempt status. A “manager” title does not make someone exempt if the job’s primary duty is not management. Non-management blue-collar workers such as electricians, mechanics and construction laborers are not exempt under these rules no matter how much they earn.
Highly compensated employees in office or non-manual jobs face a looser duties test if they earn at least $107,432 a year in total pay, with at least $684 a week paid on a salary or fee basis.
What is the overtime salary threshold in 2026?
The federal standard salary level in effect in 2026 is $684 per week ($35,568 a year). It was set by a 2019 rule that took effect January 1, 2020.
A 2024 rule would have raised it to $844 a week on July 1, 2024, and to $1,128 a week on January 1, 2025. Federal courts vacated that rule: the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on November 15, 2024, and the Northern District of Texas on December 30, 2024. The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeals in May 2026, and on May 15, 2026 the Department of Labor published a technical amendment that restored the 2019 text in the regulations. As of early October 2026, no new salary level had been proposed.
State overtime laws can differ from the FLSA, as the next section shows. If you are close to the line, check your state’s rules with your state labor office or an employment attorney.
Which states have daily overtime?
Federal overtime is weekly only. These states add daily overtime, according to the Department of Labor’s state law summary:
| State | Daily overtime rule | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1.5x after 8 hours in a workday; 2x after 12 hours | Also 1.5x for the first 8 hours on the seventh day worked in a workweek and 2x after 8 hours on that day. Alternative workweek schedules can change this. |
| Alaska | 1.5x after 8 hours in a day | Does not apply to employers with fewer than 4 employees. An approved flexible plan can allow 10-hour days before overtime. |
| Nevada | 1.5x after 8 hours in a day | Only for employees earning less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage. With Nevada’s $12.00 minimum, that means under $18.00 an hour. |
| Colorado | 1.5x after 12 hours in a day | Coverage depends on industry, so check with Colorado’s labor department. |
All four also require overtime after 40 hours in a week. Alaska’s labor department adds that comp time instead of overtime pay is not lawful there.
When do you get double time?
The FLSA never requires double time. It also does not require extra pay for weekends or holidays unless those hours push you over 40 for the week.
Double time comes from state law, a union contract or company policy. Of the state rules in the Department of Labor’s summary, California’s is the one that requires it: 2 times the regular rate after 12 hours in a workday and after 8 hours on the seventh straight day of a workweek.
For example, Taylor Kim earns $20 an hour in California and works one 14-hour day:
| Hours | Rate | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| First 8 hours | $20.00 | $160.00 |
| Hours 9 to 12 (4 hours) | $30.00 | $120.00 |
| Hours 13 and 14 (2 hours) | $40.00 | $80.00 |
| Total for the day | $360.00 |
The calculator above applies the weekly 40-hour rule and has a separate field for double-time hours, which it pays at 2x and keeps out of the time-and-a-half count. If daily overtime applies to you, check each long day by hand the way this table does.
How does overtime work for salaried nonexempt employees?
A salary alone does not cancel overtime. If you are salaried and nonexempt, your regular rate is your weekly salary divided by the hours the salary is meant to cover.
Salary for a 40-hour week. Brightside Dental pays a front desk coordinator $900 a week for 40 hours. The regular rate is $900 / 40 = $22.50, so overtime is $33.75 an hour. In a 46-hour week, the coordinator earns $900 + (6 x $33.75) = $1,102.50.
Salary for a longer week. If the same $900 is meant to cover 45 hours, the regular rate is $20.00. The straight time for all 45 hours is already in the salary, so the employer owes the extra half: 5 x $10.00 = $50.00, for $950 total. DOL Fact Sheet #23 uses this same method.
Fluctuating workweek. Federal rules let employers pay half-time overtime on a fixed salary only when hours vary week to week, the salary covers all hours worked, it always works out to at least minimum wage, and both sides clearly understand the arrangement. In a 46-hour week, $900 / 46 = $19.57, and half of that for 6 hours adds $58.70. Ask payroll which method applies to you.
Is overtime pay tax free now?
No. For tax years 2025 through 2028, a federal deduction lets you subtract part of your overtime pay from taxable income, but overtime is still wages. Your employer still withholds federal income tax, and Social Security and Medicare taxes still apply to every overtime dollar.
Only the premium the FLSA requires counts, which is the extra half of time and a half: overtime hours over 40 x your regular rate x 0.5. At $20 an hour, 10 overtime hours earn $300 in overtime pay, but only $100 qualifies. Double time and overtime paid only under state law, a union contract or company policy count only up to that FLSA amount.
The deduction is capped at $12,500 per return ($25,000 on a joint return) and shrinks by $100 for each full $1,000 of modified AGI above $150,000 ($300,000 joint). You claim it on Schedule 1-A whether or not you itemize, and married couples must file jointly. Starting with 2026 pay, employers report qualified overtime on Form W-2 in box 12 with code TT.
To estimate your deduction and federal tax savings, use the no tax on overtime calculator.
Common overtime mistakes
- Averaging two weeks. 35 hours plus 45 hours on one biweekly check still means 5 overtime hours in week two.
- Not paying unapproved overtime. Work your employer knows about or allows is work time, even if no one asked for it.
- Treating a salary as an exemption. The salary level and duties tests both have to be met.
- Leaving bonuses out of the regular rate. Promised bonuses and shift differentials raise the overtime rate.
- Paying a flat sum for overtime. A lump sum that does not change with the number of overtime hours is not an overtime premium under the FLSA.
- Agreeing to waive overtime. DOL says overtime cannot be waived by agreement between an employer and employee.
- Using comp time in place of pay. The FLSA’s comp time rules are written for state and local government employers. In the private sector, overtime earned in a workweek is normally due on the regular payday for that period.
To see how overtime changes your take-home pay after taxes, try the paycheck calculator for your state. To see how a 45-hour week compares with a standard schedule, read how many hours is full time, and if you work nights or rotating shifts, see our shift hours guide.
Overtime rules have many exemptions for specific industries, so if your situation is unusual, the Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243 or your state labor office can review it.