β° 12-Hour Shift Pay Calculator
Weekly pay for 12-hour schedules, with overtime and differentials done right.
Gross weekly pay
Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.
A 12-hour shift paycheck has three moving parts: straight-time hours, overtime hours, and the shift differential. Federal law requires overtime past 40 hours a week at 1.5 times the regular rate, and the regular rate legally includes your differential, not just your base pay. This calculator puts the pieces together the way payroll does, so the number matches your stub instead of surprising you.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter your base hourly rate, how many shifts you work per week, and your actual paid hours per shift (subtract unpaid meal breaks). Add your shift differential as a percentage and set the overtime rules: the weekly threshold (usually 40) and the multiplier (usually 1.5). The calculator splits your hours into straight time and overtime, folds the differential into the regular rate first, then prices the overtime premium on top.
Enter base rate and schedule. Use paid hours per shift: a "12-hour shift" with an unpaid 30-minute meal is 11.5 paid hours.
Set the differential you earn on these shifts (night, weekend, or critical-shift premium) and your overtime threshold and multiplier. California workers should account for daily overtime separately, since this calculator uses the weekly rule.
Read gross weekly pay plus the annual equivalent and the effective hourly rate. Compare the result to your pay stub; if they differ, the gap is usually an unpaid break or a differential rule you have not entered. For take-home after taxes, run the gross through our paycheck calculator.
The Pay Formula, Piece by Piece
The step most calculators skip is the second line. The Fair Labor Standards Act defines the regular rate as total straight-time compensation divided by total hours, which means shift differentials, and most non-discretionary bonuses, raise the rate that overtime multiplies. A $28 base with a 10 percent differential is a $30.80 regular rate, so overtime pays $46.20 an hour, not $42. Small difference per hour, real money over a year of 12s.
Worked Example: Four 12s at $28 an Hour
Take a warehouse lead earning $28 an hour, working four 12-hour shifts (48 hours) with a 10 percent night differential and standard 40-hour overtime. Total hours are 48: 40 straight-time and 8 overtime. The regular rate is $28 x 1.10 = $30.80. Straight-time pay is 40 x $30.80 = $1,232. Overtime pays 8 x $30.80 x 1.5 = $369.60. Weekly gross is $1,601.60, which annualizes to $83,283.20.
Drop to the classic three-shift week (36 hours) and overtime vanishes: 36 x $30.80 = $1,108.80 a week, or $57,657.60 a year. That $25,625 gap between the 3-shift and 4-shift schedule is why the fourth shift is the most valuable day on a 12-hour roster, and why employers guard overtime approvals closely. If your state adds daily overtime, like California does past 8 hours, the same schedule pays considerably more, which is worth modeling separately.
Common 12-Hour Schedules Compared
Not all 12-hour rosters pay the same, even at the same hourly rate. The schedule decides how many hours clear the overtime threshold.
| Schedule | Hours/week | Overtime | Weekly pay at $28 + 10% diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3x12 fixed | 36 | 0 | $1,108.80 |
| 4x12 fixed | 48 | 8 | $1,601.60 |
| Panama 2-2-3 (avg) | 42 | ~2 avg | $1,324.40 |
| DuPont (avg) | 42 | ~2 avg | $1,324.40 |
Rotating schedules average 42 hours, but the overtime lands unevenly: the long weeks carry it all. If you are comparing two job offers on rotating 12s, ask for the two-week cycle totals, not the average, because a schedule with the same average can put the overtime in weeks you would rather have off.
What Shrinks the Paycheck
Three quiet deductions eat 12-hour shift pay. Unpaid meal breaks are the biggest: 30 unpaid minutes per shift costs 2.5 hours a week on a 5-shift rotation, about $77 a week at the $30.80 regular rate, or $4,000 a year. Tardiness policies that round down to the quarter hour shave a little every shift. And differential rules with fine print, like differentials that only apply after 6 p.m., mean day-shift 12s earn the base only.
My advice for anyone living on 12s: verify one full pay stub against this calculator line by line. Payroll errors on differentials and overtime are common precisely because the math has several steps, and the error almost never favors the worker. Catching a $2-an-hour differential mistake is worth $4,000-plus a year to a full-time 12-hour worker. Once the gross is right, our paycheck calculator takes it from gross to take-home, and timesheet calculator helps you log the hours in the first place.
Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does overtime work on 12-hour shifts?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime is owed for hours over 40 in a workweek, at 1.5 times the regular rate. So three 12-hour shifts (36 hours) earn no federal overtime, but four 12-hour shifts (48 hours) earn 8 overtime hours. Some states add daily overtime: in California, hours over 8 in a day earn 1.5x and hours over 12 earn 2x, which changes 12-hour shift math completely.
Do 12-hour shifts automatically include overtime?
No. A 12-hour shift alone does not create overtime under federal law; only the weekly total past 40 hours does. The classic 3x12 schedule is 36 hours a week, which is under 40, so those workers get zero overtime unless their state requires daily overtime or their employer sets a lower threshold. Always check your state rules before assuming.
What is a shift differential and how is it calculated?
A shift differential is extra pay for nights, weekends, or undesirable shifts, usually a flat dollar amount per hour or a percentage of base pay. A 10 percent night differential on a $28 base rate adds $2.80 per hour. Differentials typically apply to all hours worked on the qualifying shift, including overtime hours, though the overtime premium itself is calculated on the regular rate.
How much do you make working 3 twelve-hour shifts?
At $28 an hour with no overtime or differential, 3 twelve-hour shifts (36 hours) pay $1,008 a week, about $52,416 a year. Add a 10 percent night differential and it becomes $1,108.80 a week. Work a fourth shift and the 48-hour week pays $1,456 before any differential (40 x $28 plus 8 overtime hours at $42), or $1,601.60 with the 10 percent differential folded into the regular rate first, the way payroll law requires.
What is the Panama schedule and how does pay work on it?
The Panama schedule (2-2-3) rotates 12-hour shifts so workers alternate between 36 and 48 hour weeks over a two-week cycle. The 48-hour weeks generate 8 overtime hours each, which is part of why employers like it: built-in coverage with predictable overtime. This calculator handles any shifts-per-week count, so set it to 3 for the short week or 4 for the long week.
Are 12-hour shifts paid for lunch breaks?
It depends on whether the break is paid. A 30-minute unpaid meal break turns a 12-hour shift into 11.5 paid hours, which quietly costs about 4 percent of gross pay. Paid rest breaks, usually 10 to 15 minutes, do not reduce hours. Enter your actual paid hours per shift in this calculator, not the time you spend at the building.
How do holiday hours work with 12-hour shifts?
Many employers pay holiday premium (often 1.5x or 2x) for hours worked on the holiday, and some add holiday pay on top for full-time staff. A nurse working a 12-hour Thanksgiving shift at 1.5x on a $32 base earns $576 for the day instead of $384. Policies vary widely, so treat this calculator's differential field as your all-in premium percentage for the shift.
Is overtime calculated on the differential too?
Federal overtime is 1.5 times the "regular rate," which includes most differentials and non-discretionary bonuses, not just the base hourly rate. So if your base is $28 with a $2.80 night differential, your regular rate is $30.80 and overtime pays $46.20 an hour. Many online calculators get this wrong by applying 1.5x to the base only. This calculator folds the differential into the regular rate first, the way the law requires.
How do I convert 12-hour shift pay to an annual salary?
Multiply weekly gross by 52. A steady 36-hour week at $28 is $52,416 a year; a rotating schedule averaging 42 hours with overtime lands near $67,000. For an apples-to-apples comparison with salaried offers, also divide by 2,080 to get the effective hourly rate. Our <a href="/finance/salary-to-hourly">salary to hourly calculator</a> runs the conversion both ways.
Do salaried workers on 12-hour shifts get overtime?
Salary alone does not exempt you from overtime. Under federal rules, most salaried workers earning under $58,656 a year (the 2025 threshold, still referenced for 2026 planning) must receive overtime regardless of the salary label. Job duties decide exempt status, not the word "salary" on the offer letter. Misclassified shift workers are one of the most common wage claims.