How to Calculate Overtime Pay from Your Hourly Wage

If your paycheck ever looks smaller than you expected after a long week, the problem is usually not the hours you worked — it is the overtime math. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most hourly workers in the United States must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. That sounds simple, but the calculation trips people up in predictable ways: the workweek is not always the calendar week, not every extra hour is paid at the same rate, and salaried workers can qualify for overtime too. This guide states the exact formula, works it through real numbers, and covers the double-time and salaried edge cases that change the answer. You can cross-check your hours against the time card calculator as you go.

The federal overtime formula

The FLSA rule has three parts:

1. The threshold is 40 hours in one workweek. A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour periods) set by your employer. It does not have to start on Sunday or Monday — it can start on Wednesday at noon — but once set, it cannot shift week to week to dodge overtime. 2. Hours beyond 40 are paid at time and a half. The overtime rate is 1.5 times the regular rate of pay. If you earn $20 per hour, your overtime rate is $30 per hour. 3. Overtime is weekly, not daily, under federal law. Working 10 hours on Monday and 6 hours on Tuesday does not create daily overtime federally — what matters is the 40-hour weekly total. (Some states, notably California, add daily overtime rules on top; see below.)

The formula for a single-rate hourly worker is:

Weekly pay = (regular hours × hourly rate) + (overtime hours × hourly rate × 1.5)

where regular hours are capped at 40 and overtime hours are everything above 40 in that workweek.

Worked example: $22 per hour, 52 hours in a week

Take a warehouse associate earning $22.00 per hour who works 52 hours in one workweek: five 10-hour shifts plus a 2-hour Saturday shift.

Step 1 — Split the hours:

• Regular hours: 40
• Overtime hours: 52 − 40 = 12

Step 2 — Compute the overtime rate:

• $22.00 × 1.5 = $33.00 per overtime hour

Step 3 — Compute each part:

• Regular pay: 40 × $22.00 = $880.00
• Overtime pay: 12 × $33.00 = $396.00

Step 4 — Add them:

• Total weekly gross pay = $880.00 + $396.00 = $1,276.00

Notice what the overtime premium is really worth: those 12 extra hours paid $396 instead of the $264 they would have paid at the straight rate — a $132 premium for the week. If your paycheck shows $1,144 for that week (52 × $22), your employer paid you at the straight rate for every hour and owes you the $132 difference. That is the single most common overtime error, and it is exactly what to look for on your pay stub.

A quick sanity check: average hourly earnings for the week are $1,276 ÷ 52 = $24.54, which is above the $22 base rate — as it should be whenever overtime hours are in the mix. If your computed average ever comes out below your base rate, something in the arithmetic went wrong.

What counts as hours worked

Only hours actually worked count toward the 40-hour threshold. That distinction matters in weeks with time off:

• Hours worked: time on the job, including mandatory training, travel between job sites during the day, and short rest breaks (typically 20 minutes or less) that the employer counts as paid time.
• Hours NOT counted: paid vacation days, paid holidays, paid sick leave, and meal periods of 30 minutes or more where you are fully relieved of duty. A week with 32 hours worked plus 8 hours of paid holiday is 32 hours for overtime purposes — no overtime is owed even though you were paid for 40 hours.

Example: a retail worker earning $18.00 per hour works 36 hours in a week that also includes an 8-hour paid holiday. Total paid hours: 44. Hours worked: 36. Overtime owed: zero, because the threshold is hours worked, not hours paid. If that same worker had actually worked 44 hours, overtime would be 4 hours × $27.00 = $108.00 on top of 40 × $18.00 = $720.00, for a total of $828.00.

Double time: when the rate goes to 2x

Federal law stops at time and a half, but a few states go further. California is the biggest example: nonexempt employees there earn daily overtime — time and a half after 8 hours in a day — and double time after 12 hours in a day, plus double time for all hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.

Worked example: a California delivery driver earning $20.00 per hour works a single 13-hour shift.

• Regular: first 8 hours × $20.00 = $160.00
• Time and a half: next 4 hours × $30.00 = $120.00
• Double time: final 1 hour × $40.00 = $40.00
• Total for the day = $320.00

Under federal-only rules that same 13-hour day would be worth just 13 × $20.00 = $260.00 (assuming the weekly total stayed under 40). The $60 difference is entirely the California daily-overtime rule. Alaska also has daily overtime (after 8 hours), and several states set weekly thresholds or premium rules that differ from the federal floor — always check your state's labor department, because the state rule applies whenever it is more generous than the federal one.

Salaried but nonexempt: converting salary to an hourly rate

Overtime is not hourly-workers-only. If you are salaried and nonexempt (your job duties do not meet one of the FLSA exemption tests, regardless of the salary label), you are still owed time and a half — and the hourly rate is derived from your salary.

The standard conversion for a 40-hour workweek:

Hourly rate = annual salary ÷ 52 weeks ÷ 40 hours

Worked example: an office coordinator earning $52,000 per year works 48 hours in a week.

• Hourly rate: $52,000 ÷ 52 ÷ 40 = $25.00
• Overtime rate: $25.00 × 1.5 = $37.50
• Regular pay: 40 × $25.00 = $1,000.00
• Overtime pay: 8 × $37.50 = $300.00
• Total weekly gross pay = $1,300.00

If you ever convert between hourly and salary figures for budgeting, the hourly-to-salary conversion chart lays out the same 40-hour math across the full range of rates. Note the trap here: an employer who pays a flat $1,000 per week "salary" for a 48-hour week is underpaying by $300 unless the role is genuinely exempt.

Multiple rates in one week

Some workers earn different rates in the same week — a weekday rate and a weekend shift differential, for example. In that case the FLSA uses a weighted average (blended) regular rate for the week:

Regular rate = total straight-time earnings ÷ total hours worked

Worked example: a nurse earns $30.00 per hour for 32 weekday hours and $35.00 per hour for 12 weekend hours, 44 hours total.

• Straight-time earnings: (32 × $30.00) + (12 × $35.00) = $960.00 + $420.00 = $1,380.00
• Weighted average rate: $1,380.00 ÷ 44 = $31.36
• Overtime premium: the extra half of the rate, $31.36 × 0.5 = $15.68, applies to the 4 overtime hours: 4 × $15.68 = $62.73
• Total = $1,380.00 + $62.73 = $1,442.73

The common mistake is paying the weekend rate for all overtime hours. The law requires the blended rate, not the highest rate — but it also forbids paying overtime at the lowest rate. If your employer does either, the weekly total will not match the weighted-average method above.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Averaging across two weeks. Overtime is computed per workweek, never averaged over a pay period. Working 50 hours one week and 30 the next does not cancel out — the 50-hour week owes 10 hours of overtime even though the two-week average is 40. Employers may not move hours between weeks to avoid the premium.

Paying the straight rate for all hours. The most frequent error, and the easiest to spot: if your pay stub shows total hours multiplied by one rate with no overtime line, check whether any week exceeded 40 hours worked.

Using the wrong workweek. If your employer's workweek starts Wednesday, a Sunday-to-Saturday "week" of 46 hours might actually be two workweeks of 23 hours each — no overtime owed. Ask your employer (or check your handbook) for the official workweek start day before disputing a paycheck.

Counting paid time off as hours worked. Vacation, holiday, and sick hours are paid but do not count toward the 40-hour threshold, as shown above. This is the mistake that most often makes workers think they are owed overtime when they are not.

Forgetting shift differentials and bonuses in the rate. Nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions generally must be included in the regular rate before the 1.5 multiplier is applied. A $22 base rate with a $2 per hour night differential is a $24 regular rate for night hours, making the overtime rate $36, not $33.

How to check your answer

Add up your hours with the hours calculator or the time card calculator, split them at 40, and apply the formula above. Compare the result to your pay stub's gross pay for that week (before taxes and deductions — overtime is calculated on gross, not net). If the numbers differ by exactly the overtime premium, the straight-rate error is the likely cause. Keep your own time records: the FLSA puts record-keeping duties on the employer, but your own log is what makes a wage claim winnable.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate overtime pay from my hourly wage?

Split your week's hours at 40. Multiply the first 40 by your hourly rate, and multiply every hour beyond 40 by your rate times 1.5, then add the two amounts. For example, at $22 per hour for 52 hours: (40 × $22) + (12 × $33) = $880 + $396 = $1,276.

Is overtime calculated daily or weekly?

Weekly under federal law: only hours beyond 40 in a single workweek trigger the federal premium. Some states add daily overtime — California pays time and a half after 8 hours in a day and double time after 12 — so your state's rule can add daily overtime on top of the federal weekly rule.

Do salaried employees get overtime pay?

Yes, if they are nonexempt. Salary alone does not make a job exempt — the duties tests (executive, administrative, professional, and others) decide. A salaried nonexempt employee's hourly rate is the salary divided by 52 weeks and 40 hours, and overtime is 1.5 times that rate for hours beyond 40.

Does paid vacation or a holiday count toward the 40 hours?

No. Only hours actually worked count toward the overtime threshold. A week with 32 hours worked plus an 8-hour paid holiday is 32 hours for overtime purposes, even though you were paid for 40 hours.

What is the overtime rate if I earn different rates during the week?

The weighted average of all your straight-time rates for that week: total straight-time earnings divided by total hours worked, times 1.5 for the overtime hours. You can also compute it as straight-time earnings plus half the blended rate for each overtime hour.

What if my employer averages my hours over two weeks to avoid overtime?

That is not permitted. Overtime is determined workweek by workweek, and hours cannot be shifted between weeks. If a 50-hour week was averaged with a 30-hour week to erase the overtime, the 10 overtime hours from the 50-hour week are still owed. The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division handles complaints, and state labor agencies often do as well.