How to calculate overtime pay
Overtime pay is the overtime hours times your hourly rate times the overtime multiplier. For one workweek:
- Add up the paid hours you worked in the workweek, after unpaid breaks.
- Split off the overtime hours: the hours over the weekly threshold, usually 40.
- Regular pay is the regular hours times your rate.
- Overtime pay is the overtime hours times your rate times the multiplier, usually 1.5 (“time and a half”).
- Add the two for the week’s gross pay.
Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, a workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, and hours can’t be averaged over two or more weeks. If you’re paid every two weeks, work out each week separately.
Worked examples
Weekly overtime. You work 46 hours in a workweek at $18.00 an hour, with overtime after 40 hours at time and a half:
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | 40h × $18.00 | $720.00 |
| Overtime | 6h × $18.00 × 1.5 | $162.00 |
| Gross pay | $882.00 |
Daily and weekly overtime together. Now the job also pays overtime after 8 hours in a day, and you work six 9-hour days, Monday to Saturday:
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | 40h × $18.00 | $720.00 |
| Daily overtime | 6 × 1h × $27.00 | $162.00 |
| Weekly overtime | 8h × $27.00 | $216.00 |
| Gross pay | $1,098.00 |
Each day’s ninth hour is daily overtime. The first 8 hours of each day are regular for that day, and they count toward the 40-hour weekly threshold. By the end of Friday that’s 40 hours, so Saturday’s first 8 hours are weekly overtime. The six daily overtime hours aren’t counted again toward the weekly threshold, so no hour is paid as overtime twice.
What this calculator doesn’t do
- Double time, such as California’s double time after 12 hours in a day, or seventh-day rules.
- The “regular rate”: under the FLSA, overtime is based on a regular rate that can include some other pay, such as certain bonuses and shift differentials, so real overtime pay can be higher than your base rate × 1.5.
- More than one rate or job in the same week, tips, premiums and bonuses.
- Breaks and rounding: enter paid hours after unpaid breaks. If your employer rounds punches, see timecard rounding explained.
- Who is eligible: whether overtime law covers you depends on your job, exemptions and where you work. This tool doesn’t decide that.
To check a real paycheck, follow how to check your paycheck against your hours. If a number still doesn’t match, your payroll team, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or your state labor department can explain the rules that apply to you.
Questions
Is overtime calculated per pay period or per week?
Under the FLSA, per workweek. Hours can’t be averaged across two or more weeks, so with a biweekly pay period, two weeks of 46 and 34 hours still have 6 overtime hours, even though they average 40.
Does daily overtime also count toward weekly overtime?
Not in this calculator or in EarnSure: hours already counted as daily overtime don’t count again toward the weekly threshold, so no hour is paid as overtime twice. Check how your employer’s payroll handles it if your numbers differ.
Why might my paycheck show more overtime pay than this?
Often because of the regular rate: certain bonuses, shift differentials and other pay can raise the rate overtime is based on. Your job may also pay double time, premiums or overtime earlier than the law requires.
What does the multiplier mean?
It’s how much more an overtime hour pays: 1.5 means time and a half, so $18.00 an hour becomes $27.00 an hour. The FLSA requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate for covered employees; your agreement may pay more.
Are my numbers stored or sent anywhere?
No. The calculation runs on this page, in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server or saved, and reloading the page clears it. This website sets no cookies and has no analytics.
Can EarnSure do this from my real shifts?
Yes. The EarnSure app records each shift, applies your job’s overtime, break and rounding rules week by week, and compares the result with the gross pay on your paycheck.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
- Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 778.105, Determining the workweek (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #56A: Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay
- California Department of Industrial Relations, Overtime FAQ
Checked October 23, 2026. This calculator and page explain common calculations. They aren’t legal, tax or financial advice.