About the Overtime Pay Calculator
Work more than 40 hours in a week and federal law generally says you're owed more than your regular rate for the extra time. Our Overtime Pay Calculator breaks down exactly how much of your paycheck comes from regular hours versus overtime.
How It Works
The calculator pays your regular hourly rate for up to 40 hours, then applies your overtime multiplier, typically 1.5x, to every hour worked beyond that. It adds regular pay and overtime pay together to show your total pay for the week, along with your effective overtime rate per hour.
Formula & Methodology
The calculation splits your week into two buckets. Regular hours, capped at 40 even if you enter more, are paid at your straight hourly rate. Every hour beyond that is paid at your hourly rate multiplied by the overtime multiplier, most commonly 1.5 (time-and-a-half) under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, though the calculator lets you adjust this since some states and union contracts require higher multipliers, such as double-time after a certain threshold. Adding the two totals together gives your full weekly pay, and separating them out makes it clear exactly how many of your dollars came from overtime specifically.
Step-by-Step: Calculating It By Hand
- 1Multiply your hourly rate by your regular hours, capped at 40, to find regular pay.
- 2Multiply your hourly rate by your overtime multiplier to find your overtime hourly rate.
- 3Multiply that overtime rate by your overtime hours to find overtime pay.
- 4Add regular pay and overtime pay together for your total weekly pay.
Examples
Standard time-and-a-half week
At $22/hour with 40 regular hours and 8 overtime hours at 1.5x, regular pay is $880, overtime pay is $264, for a total of $1,144.
Double-time scenario
The same $22/hour worker with 8 overtime hours at a 2x multiplier instead earns $352 in overtime pay, $88 more than at time-and-a-half.
Advantages
- Separates regular and overtime pay so you can verify your paycheck is correct
- Supports custom overtime multipliers for state rules or union contracts beyond the federal 1.5x standard
- Quick way to estimate the financial impact of picking up extra hours
- Useful for both employees checking pay and employers estimating payroll costs
Common Mistakes
- Assuming every employee is automatically entitled to overtime, when many salaried and certain other roles are exempt under federal law
- Using the default 1.5x multiplier when your state or contract actually requires more
- Forgetting that some states calculate overtime daily, not just after 40 hours in a week
- Not double-checking a paycheck against a manual calculation when hours vary week to week
Edge Cases to Watch For
- Federal law generally exempts salaried employees above a certain income threshold and in certain job categories from overtime requirements entirely - this calculator assumes a non-exempt, hourly worker.
- Some states require daily overtime (for example, after 8 hours in a single day) in addition to or instead of the federal weekly-40-hour threshold, which this weekly model doesn't capture.
- Union contracts or employer policies sometimes specify a higher multiplier than 1.5x, or a different multiplier for holiday or weekend work, both adjustable here.
- Entering more than 40 in the 'regular hours' field doesn't increase regular pay, since it's capped at 40 by design - hours beyond that belong in the overtime hours field instead.
Common Use Cases
- Verifying that a paycheck correctly reflects overtime hours worked
- Estimating extra income from picking up overtime shifts
- Employers budgeting payroll costs for weeks with expected overtime
- Comparing take-home pay under different overtime multiplier rules