Overtime Pay Calculator

If you're paid hourly in the US, hours past 40 in a workweek aren't optional generosity — for most workers they're a legal entitlement to at least 1.5× your regular rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This calculator does the exact math for any week: regular pay, overtime premium, your effective overtime rate and what a run of such weeks annualizes to.

The FLSA Overtime Rules in Plain English

• Trigger: more than 40 hours in a single workweek (a fixed, recurring 168-hour period your employer defines — not a pay period).
• Rate: at least 1.5× your regular rate, which includes non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, not just base hourly pay.
• No averaging: a 50-hour week followed by a 30-hour week is 10 overtime hours, even though the two-week average is 40.
• No federal double time: 2× pay is a matter of state law (California, notably) or your contract, not the FLSA.

The Formula

Who Gets Overtime — Exempt vs Non-Exempt

Misclassification is one of the most litigated wage issues in the country. A job title or a salary alone does not make you exempt — the duties test does. If you're salaried, regularly work 50+ hours and your duties are routine, it's worth reading the DOL's fact sheets.

California and Other State Rules Worth Knowing

Colorado, Alaska and Nevada also have daily-overtime rules. Set the threshold and the optional double-time field to match your state and the calculator follows.

How to Use the Overtime Pay Calculator

1. Enter your hourly rate and total hours for the week.
2. Adjust the overtime threshold if your state uses daily rules (enter the week's effective numbers) or your contract is more generous.
3. Add a double-time threshold if it applies to you.
4. Read the total, the premium earned, and the annualized figure — useful for judging whether chronic overtime beats a higher-base job offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is overtime taxed at a higher rate?

No — there's no special overtime tax. A larger check can have proportionally more withholding (withholding tables treat it as if you earn that much every week), but at filing time overtime is ordinary income taxed exactly like your other wages.

Does my salary mean I can't get overtime?

Not by itself. Salaried workers earning below the FLSA salary threshold are overtime-eligible, and even above it you must genuinely perform exempt duties. Title inflation doesn't remove your rights.

Do weekends or nights automatically pay overtime?

Not under federal law — only hours over 40 in the workweek matter. Weekend/night premiums exist only via state law, union contracts or employer policy.

Can my employer require overtime?

Generally yes — mandatory overtime is legal for adults under the FLSA as long as it's paid correctly. Refusing can be a fireable offense in at-will states.

What counts toward my 'regular rate'?

Base pay plus non-discretionary bonuses, commissions and shift differentials, divided by hours worked. If you earn a production bonus, your overtime rate is 1.5× that blended figure — a detail employers frequently get wrong.

Can I take comp time instead of overtime pay?

Private-sector employers generally cannot substitute comp time for FLSA overtime — that's a public-sector allowance. If you're private-sector and offered comp time instead of 1.5× pay, that's a red flag.

Is my data private?

Yes — your wage and hours are computed locally in your browser and never stored.

Overtime math is simple; overtime rights are where workers lose money. Know your threshold, check your regular-rate calculation when bonuses are involved, and use the annualized figure to price chronic overtime against your time. For take-home after taxes, continue to the Paycheck Calculator.