Overtime pay
Add regular hours and overtime hours from an hourly rate and a multiplier such as time and a half.
Short answer
Regular pay is hours times the base rate. Overtime pay is overtime hours times the base rate times the multiplier. The total is the sum.
How this works
The calculator does not decide whether you are owed overtime. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act generally requires 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek for nonexempt employees. Jobs, states, and contracts create exemptions and sometimes better rules.
Enter the multiplier from your policy. 1.5 is time and a half. 2 is double time. The regular hours and overtime hours are whatever your timesheet already classified.
Examples
$20 an hour, 40 regular, 5 overtime at 1.5
Regular pay is $800. Overtime pay is $150. Total is $950.
Common mistakes
- Multiplying the overtime hours by 1.5 and forgetting to also pay the base for those hours. Time and a half already includes the base: it is rate × 1.5, not rate + rate × 1.5.
Frequently asked questions
- Is 1.5 always the right multiplier?
- It is the usual federal floor for covered, nonexempt hours over 40 in a workweek. Your state, union, or contract may differ. This page does not look that up.
Related
- What time and a half meansTime and a half is 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for the hours your rule marks as overtime.
- Annual salary to hourly rateConvert an annual salary into an hourly rate from the hours you actually work in a week and a year.
- How overtime pay is calculatedSeparate regular hours from overtime hours, then apply the multiplier your policy actually uses.
Sources
- Overtime pay — U.S. Department of Labor