Overtime calculator
Enter the hours worked in the week, the regular hourly rate and the overtime multiplier — time and a half or double time — and this splits the week into regular pay and overtime pay and adds them up. A daily mode follows the pattern California uses, for anyone whose state counts overtime by the day. Figures are gross, before tax and deductions, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
The working: 40.00 h × $20.00 = $800.00. 6.00 h × $20.00 × 1.5 = $180.00. Total $980.00, before tax and deductions.
How overtime pay is calculated
Under the federal rule, the first 40 hours of the workweek are paid at the regular rate and every hour after that at no less than one and a half times it. So the sum has two parts: regular hours × rate, and overtime hours × rate × 1.5.
For 46 hours at $20 an hour: 40 × $20 = $800 regular pay. The other 6 hours are overtime at $20 × 1.5 = $30 an hour, so 6 × $30 = $180. The week comes to $980 gross. At double time the 6 hours would be 6 × $40 = $240, and the week $1,040.
Hours have to be in decimal for this. Seven hours forty-five minutes is 7.75 hours, not 7.45. If you have start and finish times rather than a total, the time card calculator adds up the week in decimal hours first, lunch breaks and overnight shifts included.
| Regular rate | Time and a half | Double time |
|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $22.50 | $30.00 |
| $18.00 | $27.00 | $36.00 |
| $20.00 | $30.00 | $40.00 |
| $22.00 | $33.00 | $44.00 |
| $25.00 | $37.50 | $50.00 |
| $30.00 | $45.00 | $60.00 |
| $35.00 | $52.50 | $70.00 |
| $40.00 | $60.00 | $80.00 |
The federal rule
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the baseline for most US employers: a non-exempt employee is owed at least one and a half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. The workweek is any fixed run of seven consecutive days — it does not have to start on a Monday — and each week stands alone, so a short week does not offset a long one. The Department of Labor’s overtime page and Fact Sheet #23 set it out in full.
Two details catch people out. First, the “regular rate” can include more than the base hourly wage — some bonuses and shift differentials count toward it — so the overtime rate can be higher than 1.5 × the posted wage. Second, exempt salaried staff are outside the rule altogether, and exemption depends on the duties and the salary, not the job title. The calculator multiplies the rate you give it; it cannot tell which of these applies.
Daily overtime and state rules
State rules vary, and where a state gives the worker more than the federal rule, the state rule usually wins. Most states follow the 40-hour week. A few also count overtime by the day, and California’s is the best-known pattern: over 8 hours in a workday at 1.5×, over 12 at 2×, and on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek the first 8 hours at 1.5× and the rest at 2× — alongside the 40-hour weekly rule.
The daily mode in the calculator follows that pattern so you can see how it plays out, with each day entered in workweek order. It is an illustration of one state’s rule, not a payroll ruling for yours, and it leaves out the exceptions every state has. For the rule where you work, check your state’s labor department; the Department of Labor keeps a list of state labor offices.
Overtime on the job: billing it to a customer
Paying a helper overtime and charging a customer for after-hours work are two separate things. What you owe the helper is set by the rules above. What you charge the customer is whatever you agreed: an emergency call-out fee, an evening rate, a weekend premium. Put it on the paperwork before the work starts — an estimate that names the after-hours rate avoids the argument later — and bill it on the invoice as a line of its own, so the customer can see why the total is higher. The markup calculator checks the premium still covers the overtime you pay.
Questions about overtime
How do I calculate time and a half?
Multiply the regular hourly rate by 1.5 to get the overtime rate, then multiply that by the overtime hours. At $20 an hour, time and a half is $30. For a 46-hour week, that is 40 × $20 = $800 of regular pay plus 6 × $30 = $180 of overtime, $980 in all, before tax.
Is overtime calculated by the day or by the week?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act it is by the workweek: hours over 40 in a fixed seven-day period. A few states also count by the day — California is the best known, with overtime after 8 hours in a day and double time after 12. Where a state rule gives the worker more, the state rule is the one that applies.
Is double time required by law?
Not under federal law, which sets time and a half as the overtime rate. Double time comes from some state rules — California requires it in certain daily and seventh-day cases — and from union agreements and employer policy, commonly for holidays or Sundays. If you are not sure which applies, your state labor department can tell you.
Do independent contractors get overtime?
No. Federal overtime applies to non-exempt employees, not to independent contractors, who set their own prices. A contractor can still charge a customer more for evening or weekend work, but that is a rate agreed in the quote or contract, not overtime pay. Whether someone is really a contractor depends on the working relationship, not on what the paperwork calls them.