Overtime Pay Calculator

Your paycheck says one number, your hours say another

You worked 48 hours last week. Your pay stub shows a number that doesn’t look like 48 times your hourly rate, and you’re not sure whether that’s right. Maybe some of those hours should have been time and a half. Maybe your state has daily overtime rules your employer isn’t mentioning. Or maybe the math is fine and you just want to check before you ask questions.

The calculator above does the federal math instantly: enter your hourly rate and your hours, and it breaks out regular pay, overtime pay, and your total gross. Here’s everything behind those numbers, including the state rules that trip people up.

How overtime works under federal law

The Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law from 1938 that still governs this, says one simple thing: non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular hourly rate (time and a half) for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. That’s the floor for the whole country. Your employer can pay more, many union contracts do, but they can’t pay less.

The formula is exactly what the calculator uses:

• Overtime rate = hourly rate × 1.5
• Overtime pay = overtime rate × overtime hours
• Total = (regular hours × hourly rate) + overtime pay

Real example: you earn $25 an hour and work 48 hours. Regular pay is 40 × $25 = $1,000. Your overtime rate is $25 × 1.5 = $37.50, and 8 overtime hours come to $300. Gross for the week: $1,300. At $20 an hour with 10 overtime hours, it’s $800 regular plus $300 overtime, $1,100 total.

A detail worth knowing: “regular rate” isn’t always just your base wage. If you earn non-discretionary bonuses or shift differentials, those get folded into the regular rate before the 1.5 multiplier is applied, which raises your overtime rate. If your pay structure is complicated, that’s worth a conversation with HR or your state’s labor department.

Who actually qualifies

Most hourly workers are non-exempt and qualify automatically. Salaried workers are where it gets murky. You’re entitled to overtime unless you’re genuinely exempt, which takes two things: a salary above the federal threshold (currently $35,568 a year, or $684 a week) and job duties that fit the executive, administrative, or professional exemptions. A fancy title alone doesn’t make you exempt. Plenty of salaried employees under the threshold, or whose duties don’t pass the test, are legally owed overtime for hours over 40. If you’re salaried and regularly working 50-hour weeks with no extra pay, it’s worth checking whether your classification is actually correct. Misclassification is one of the most common wage violations in the country. And if you’re weighing a salaried offer against hourly work, the hourly to salary calculator converts both to the same yearly number so you can compare them honestly.

California (and a few other states) play by tougher rules

Federal law is the floor, but states can build above it, and several do. California has the strictest overtime rules in the country, and they surprise a lot of people who move there:

• 1.5× after 8 hours in a single day, even if your weekly total is under 40
• 2× (double time) after 12 hours in a single day
• On the 7th consecutive workday: the first 8 hours at 1.5×, everything after at 2×
• Weekly overtime (1.5× past 40 hours) still applies on top

See why it matters? Work three 12-hour days in California, 36 hours total, and federal law says zero overtime. California law says 12 hours at time and a half. At $20 an hour, a single 10-hour day pays $220 in California (8 × $20 + 2 × $30) versus $200 under federal rules. A 13-hour day at $18 an hour: 8 × $18 = $144, plus 4 × $27 = $108, plus 1 × $36 = $36, for $288 total. That $54 difference is real money your employer owes you.

Other states with daily overtime include Alaska (1.5× after 8 hours/day) and Nevada (1.5× after 8 hours/day for workers earning less than 1.5× minimum wage), plus Colorado (daily OT after 12 hours). The calculator above uses the federal 40-hour standard, so if you’re in one of these states, your actual overtime could be higher. When in doubt, your state’s Department of Labor website has the current rules spelled out.

The overtime tax myth

Let’s kill this one for good: overtime is not taxed at a higher rate. It’s ordinary income, taxed at the same marginal rate as the rest of your pay. There’s no special “overtime tax” in the tax code.

So why does your overtime check feel smaller than expected? Two reasons. First, a bigger paycheck can push that pay period’s withholding into a higher bracket, so more gets withheld up front (you settle the difference at tax time). Second, some employers withhold bonuses and supplemental wages at a flat 22% federal rate, which can make the deduction look chunky on the stub. Either way, the actual tax on the income is the same as if you’d earned it at straight time. Don’t let the myth talk you out of overtime hours that pay 1.5×.

How to use the calculator (and check your pay stub)

Enter your hourly rate and your hours for the week, split into regular, overtime, and double-time hours if your situation has tiers. The calculator shows each bucket separately so you can compare line by line against your stub: regular pay, overtime pay at 1.5×, double-time at 2×, total gross, and your effective hourly rate across all hours worked.

Remember what it shows is gross pay, before federal tax, state tax, Social Security, Medicare, and any deductions. Your take-home will be lower. To see what actually survives taxes and deductions, run the same pay through the take-home pay calculator. If the calculator’s number and your stub disagree by more than rounding, that’s worth a polite question to payroll first, then your state’s wage claim process if the answer doesn’t satisfy you. Keep your own records of hours worked. In a dispute, your notes matter.

When the numbers say something’s wrong

A few red flags: overtime hours paid at straight time, “comp time” offered instead of overtime pay to private-sector hourly workers (generally not legal), being asked to work off the clock, or automatic meal-break deductions for breaks you didn’t take. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division takes these complaints, and you don’t need a lawyer to file one. Most states also let you recover back pay going back two to three years.

This calculator gives educational estimates of gross pay under federal FLSA rules. State laws may entitle you to more. It is not legal or tax advice. For guidance about your situation, check your state’s Department of Labor or a qualified professional.