Overtime pay calculator
Under federal law (FLSA), non-exempt employees earn at least 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. At $20 an hour and 48 hours worked, you earn $800 for the first 40 hours plus $240 for 8 overtime hours: $1,040 before taxes.
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Estimate only. This is not legal or tax advice; state laws, union contracts and your employer's policy may differ, and your pay stub is what counts.
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How overtime pay works under federal law
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay non-exempt employees at least 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek. The week is a fixed 168-hour period, so you cannot average hours across two weeks. Salaried workers who are exempt from overtime (many executives, professionals and administrators) do not get this premium.
\[ \begin{gathered} \text{overtime pay} = \text{hours over} \ 40 \times \text{hourly rate} \times 1.5 \\ \text{weekly pay} = 40 \times \text{hourly rate} + \text{overtime pay} \end{gathered} \]
Double time (2x) is not required by federal law. Some states, such as California, require it after 12 hours in a day or after 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day, and some union contracts or employers offer it voluntarily.
Overtime chart at common hourly rates
| Hourly rate | OT rate (1.5x) | Double time (2x) | 48 hours, 1.5x |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15.00 | $22.50 | $30.00 | $780.00 |
| $20.00 | $30.00 | $40.00 | $1,040.00 |
| $25.00 | $37.50 | $50.00 | $1,300.00 |
| $30.00 | $45.00 | $60.00 | $1,560.00 |
State rules, regular rate and common mistakes
Your regular rate is not always your base hourly wage: nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials raise it, so the overtime premium applies to them too. A few states, including California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado, add daily overtime rules on top of the weekly one. Hours on paid vacation or sick leave generally do not count toward the 40. If your pay stub shows fewer overtime dollars than this calculator, ask your payroll department how they compute the regular rate.
3 real-life examples
$20 an hour, 48 hours in a week
Regular pay: \( 40 \times \$20 = \$800 \). Overtime: \( 8 \times \$20 \times 1.5 = \$240 \). Total: $1,040 gross, which is $80 more than straight time.
$20 an hour, 48 hours with 2 double time hours
Regular: $800. Time and a half: 6 hours × $30 = $180. Double time: 2 hours × $40 = $80. Total: $1,060 before taxes.
$15 an hour, 45 hours
Regular: \( 40 \times \$15 = \$600 \). Overtime: \( 5 \times \$22.50 = \$112.50 \). Total: $712.50. If every week looks the same, that is $37,050 a year.