β° Time-and-a-Half Overtime Calculator
Your overtime hours at 1.5x, done right.
Overtime pay per week
Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.
At $20 an hour, 10 overtime hours a week pays $300 extra: the overtime rate is $30 an hour (1.5x), and over a year that is $15,600 in overtime alone. Time and a half is federal law for non-exempt workers past 40 hours a week, not a favor your employer does you.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter your regular hourly wage, weekly overtime hours, and regular hours (usually 40). The calculator shows the 1.5x rate, weekly overtime pay, and the annual totals.
Enter your base hourly wage, before any shift differentials. Differentials usually count toward the regular rate by law.
Enter overtime hours per week: hours over 40 in a single workweek, not per pay period.
Read the annual overtime figure. That is the raise you give yourself by working the extra hours.
The Formula
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the floor: 1.5 times the "regular rate" for hours over 40 in a workweek. The regular rate includes most extras, shift differentials, non-discretionary bonuses, divided across all hours worked, so the legal overtime rate is often slightly above 1.5x base wage. States can be stricter: California requires 1.5x past 8 hours in a day and 2x past 12.
Worked Example
$20/hour, 10 overtime hours, 40 regular hours. Overtime rate: 20 x 1.5 = $30/hour. Weekly OT: 10 x 30 = $300. Regular pay: 40 x 20 = $800. Weekly total: $1,100. Annual overtime: 300 x 52 = $15,600. Annual total: $57,200. The overtime is 27 percent of total pay here, which shows why reclassifying workers as exempt is such a contested fight.
Who Gets Overtime (and Who Does Not)
| Status | Overtime rule |
|---|---|
| Non-exempt hourly | 1.5x past 40 hrs/week, federal law |
| Exempt salaried | No overtime, must meet duties + salary tests |
| California workers | 1.5x past 8 hrs/day, 2x past 12 hrs |
| Independent contractors | No FLSA protection at all |
Exempt status requires both a salary above the federal threshold ($684/week) and qualifying executive, administrative, or professional duties. Job titles do not decide it; actual duties do. Misclassification, calling someone a "manager" who does frontline work, is one of the most common wage violations the Department of Labor prosecutes.
Overtime vs a Raise: The Math
Ten overtime hours at $20 an hour is worth $15,600 a year, equivalent to a $7.50/hour raise on a 40-hour week. But overtime is not guaranteed: it vanishes with schedule changes, while raises compound into future raises, 401(k) matches, and Social Security earnings. If you consistently work 50-hour weeks, you are effectively earning $22 an hour ($57,200 / 2,600 hours), not $20. Price your time honestly with our salary to hourly converter, and check what the extra income does to your bracket with the tax bracket finder.
Double Time and Other Twists
Some states and union contracts go beyond time and a half. California mandates double time past 12 hours a day or past 8 on the seventh consecutive day. Many employers voluntarily pay double on holidays. Weekend and night differentials stack on top of the base before the 1.5 multiplier in most compliant payroll systems. If your pay stub's overtime line does not match this calculator, ask payroll for the regular-rate worksheet: errors favor the employer more often than chance would suggest.
The Exempt Trap: Who Actually Gets Overtime
Being salaried does not make you exempt. The FLSA's white-collar exemptions require three tests: a salary of at least $684 a week ($35,568 a year), payment on a salary basis, and duties that are genuinely executive, administrative, or professional. Miss any test and you are non-exempt, entitled to time-and-a-half past 40 hours no matter what your offer letter calls you. Job titles are irrelevant; a "manager" who spends the day running a register is non-exempt.
Misclassification is one of the most common wage violations in America, and the back-pay liability runs two to three years. If you are salaried, under the threshold, and working 50-hour weeks without overtime, the calculator above is pricing wages your employer may already owe you. State laws can be stricter than federal: check yours before assuming the federal floor is the whole story.
Overtime Is Priced, Not Gifted
Time and a half is the legal price of your 41st hour: 1.5 times the regular rate, computed on the weighted average when multiple rates apply in one week. Know the exemptions cold, because misclassification is the most common wage theft in America: salaried does not automatically mean exempt, and the duties test matters more than the pay method. Track your hours independently of your employer's system; when disputes arise, contemporaneous records win.
Use overtime strategically. Voluntary overtime at 1.5x is often the highest-paid work available to hourly employees, worth more per hour than most side gigs. But chronic mandatory overtime at the same rate is a signal: the employer is buying your weekends at a discount versus hiring. Price your time, know your exemption status, and let the calculator keep the payroll department honest.
Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate time and a half?
Multiply the hourly wage by 1.5, then by overtime hours. At $20/hour: overtime rate is $30, and 10 hours gives $300. Under the FLSA this applies to hours over 40 per week for non-exempt employees. For salaried non-exempt workers, first convert salary to an hourly regular rate (weekly salary divided by 40), then apply the 1.5 multiplier.
What is time and a half of $20 an hour?
$30 an hour. Each overtime hour pays the $20 base plus a $10 half-time premium. Ten such hours add $300 to the week's pay. The 'half' in time-and-a-half is literal: the premium for the extra hour is half the base rate on top of the base rate you already earn for that hour.
Who qualifies for overtime pay?
Non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act: generally hourly workers and salaried workers below $684/week or not meeting exempt duties tests. Exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees do not get mandatory overtime. Job titles do not decide this: a salaried 'manager' doing frontline work is usually non-exempt, and misclassification is one of the most common wage violations.
Is overtime calculated daily or weekly?
Federally, weekly: hours over 40 in the workweek. Some states differ: California requires daily overtime past 8 hours and double time past 12. Your state may be stricter than federal law, never looser. Employers cannot average across weeks either: 50 hours one week and 30 the next still owes 10 overtime hours for the first week.
Do bonuses count toward the overtime rate?
Non-discretionary bonuses (promised for performance or attendance) must be included in the regular rate, which slightly raises the 1.5x figure. Purely discretionary gifts, like an unexpected holiday bonus, do not count. The adjustment is retroactive: employers must recalculate the overtime rate for the bonus period and pay the difference, which is where class-action lawsuits find their damages.
What is double time?
Twice the hourly rate, required in California past 12 hours a day or past 8 hours on the seventh consecutive workday, and common in union contracts and holiday policies. It is not federal law. Some employers offer double time voluntarily for holidays or extreme shifts; that is policy, not statute, so read your handbook rather than assuming.
Can my employer refuse to pay overtime?
Not if you are non-exempt and worked the hours; the FLSA requires it and 'unauthorized overtime' must still be paid (though you can be disciplined for working it). If overtime is missing from your check, file with the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
Is overtime taxed more?
No, this is a myth. Overtime is taxed at your normal marginal rates; withholding may look higher on a big overtime check because payroll systems annualize the pay period, but the actual tax is the same rate. You get the difference back at filing.
Does salaried exempt mean no overtime ever?
For truly exempt employees, yes under federal law. But many 'salaried' workers are misclassified: earning a salary alone does not make you exempt. Duties and the salary threshold both matter, and misclassification is common in retail, food service, and tech.
How much is 10 hours of overtime a week worth yearly?
At $20/hour: $300/week x 52 = $15,600 a year. At $30/hour: $450/week = $23,400 a year. That is often a bigger raise than any annual review delivers, which is why tracking overtime matters. Keep your own log of hours: when paychecks and timesheets disagree, the employee's contemporaneous records carry real weight in disputes.