Worked extra hours this week? Enter your regular hourly rate, the hours worked in one fixed workweek, the overtime threshold and a premium multiplier. The calculator splits regular and overtime gross pay. The main limit: it does not decide whether you qualify for overtime, and some states add daily rules the weekly federal model misses.
At an assumed $20 regular rate, 45 hours in one workweek, a 40-hour threshold and a 1.5× premium, modeled gross pay is $950: $800 for the first 40 hours plus $150 for five overtime hours. It is a gross-pay estimate, not net pay.
Weekly overtime calculator
This calculator runs in your browser. This calculator’s code does not send, save, or track your entries. All dollar amounts are USD.
Optional example: Inputs start blank. Load example fills hypothetical figures without calculating. Examples are not current rates, quotes, or recommendations.
Loading calculator. No entries are submitted.
Inputs start blank, and the Load example figures are hypothetical. Enter the regular rate for the modeled workweek, not just a quoted base wage, if includable bonuses, multiple rates or other pay affect that rate.
How do you use the overtime calculator for one workweek?
- Enter your regular hourly rate in dollars and the hours actually worked during one fixed seven-day, 168-hour workweek. Do not average a 45-hour week with a 35-hour week.
- Leave the threshold at 40 hours for the federal weekly scenario. Any other threshold is only a what-if; it does not say when federal or state law requires overtime pay.
- Select a premium multiplier. The default 1.5× means each modeled overtime hour pays $20 × 1.5 = $30 in the example. Higher options are what-ifs, not a statement that they apply to your job.
- Read the straight-time and additional premium pieces in the results. Straight time for all hours plus the premium equals the total; do not add a full overtime-hour amount a second time.
What does 45 hours at $20 pay under the federal weekly rule?
Inputs. Hypothetical example: $20 regular rate, 45 hours in one workweek, 40-hour threshold, 1.5× premium.
Formula. Regular hours = min(45, 40) = 40. Overtime hours = max(0, 45 − 40) = 5. Regular-hours pay = 40 × $20 = $800. Overtime-hours pay = 5 × $20 × 1.5 = $150.
Result. Weekly gross is $950. The same total appears another way: straight time for all 45 hours is $900, plus a half-time premium of 5 × $20 × 0.5 = $50.
| Hours and premium assumption | Regular-hours gross | Overtime-hours gross | Total gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 hours, 40-hour threshold, 1.5× | $800.00 | $0.00 | $800.00 |
| 45 hours, 40-hour threshold, 1.5× | $800.00 | $150.00 | $950.00 |
| 45 hours, 40-hour threshold, 2× | $800.00 | $200.00 | $1,000.00 |
| 45 hours, hypothetical 35-hour threshold, 1.5× | $700.00 | $300.00 | $1,000.00 |
What to check. The 35-hour row is not a legal assertion; it shows how a different threshold moves hours between the two columns. Compare the hours with your employer’s actual workweek, which can start on any day and hour.
A second hypothetical case: 38 hours at $25 with a 40-hour threshold and 1.5×. There are zero overtime hours, and modeled gross is 38 × $25 = $950. The same total as the first example does not imply the same schedule, legal status, taxes or benefits.
What does federal overtime law require?
The U.S. Department of Labor says that, unless exempt, employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay.
DOL Fact Sheet #23 adds the workweek details. A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours, it can start on any day and at any hour, and hours cannot be averaged over two or more weeks. The FLSA does not require overtime pay just because work falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday.
The regular rate is not always the posted hourly wage. DOL Fact Sheet #56A says it is calculated by dividing total pay for employment in the workweek, except statutory exclusions, by the total hours actually worked. Bonuses or several pay rates can require payroll detail beyond these four inputs.
Overtime earned in a workweek is normally paid on the regular payday for the pay period in which it was earned. Workweeks do not always line up with pay periods, especially on a twice-a-month schedule; biweekly vs. semimonthly pay explains how those schedules differ.
How can state overtime rules differ from the federal rule?
States can add their own rules. The DOL’s state table, updated July 1, 2026, lists daily premium-pay thresholds in several places, including:
- Alaska: after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, with exceptions such as small employers.
- California: time and a half after 8 hours a day, double time after 12, plus seventh-consecutive-day rules.
- Colorado: after 12 hours a day or 40 a week.
- Nevada: after 8 hours a day for employees earning less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage.
That list is not complete or final. Rules change, and exemptions, industry orders and alternative schedules matter, so confirm the current rule with your state labor office before relying on any figure.
Here is why it matters. Hypothetical example: a nonexempt California worker at $20 an hour works four 10-hour days, 40 hours in total. The federal weekly model finds no overtime and $800 of gross pay.
Under California’s general daily rule as described by the state Labor Commissioner, each day has 2 hours over 8, so 8 hours earn time and a half: 32 × $20 + 8 × $30 = $880. An approved alternative workweek schedule or another exception could change that result.
Is overtime pay tax-free now?
No. The IRS’s August 2026 fact sheet FS-2026-13 describes a limited income tax deduction for qualified overtime compensation, up to $12,500 per return ($25,000 for a joint return), reduced when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers).
The IRS says the deduction does not mean overtime is excluded from gross income, and overtime generally still counts as wages for employment taxes, including income tax withholding. Only the FLSA-required premium counts, meaning the “half” in time and a half. State-law, contract or double-time extras above that do not.
In the 45-hour example, if the worker is FLSA overtime-eligible, the IRS formula counts 5 × 0.5 × $20 = $50 as qualified overtime compensation for that week, even under the 2× scenario. This calculator does not estimate withholding, the deduction or a refund, and inputs are not stored or transmitted.
Gross pay is not take-home pay: tax withholding and other deductions reduce each paycheck. To weigh pay against living costs in a job decision, see compare job offers and living costs.
When does this overtime calculator not fit?
- Your state has daily overtime or double-time rules. Only one weekly threshold is modeled, so daily hours over 8 or 12 are not counted separately.
- Your regular rate includes bonuses, commissions or several pay rates. You would need to calculate the regular rate first, following Fact Sheet #56A.
- You are unsure whether you are exempt. No field decides coverage or exemption; salaried workers in particular may or may not be entitled to overtime.
- You work more than one job or need net pay. The tool cannot combine jobs, apply employer rounding or reconcile a pay stub.
How the calculator handles inputs and rounding
Let h be one week’s hours, t the entered threshold, r the entered regular hourly rate and m the selected multiplier. Regular hours = min(h, t); overtime hours = max(0, h − t). Weekly gross = r × regular hours + r × m × overtime hours, or equivalently r × h + r × (m − 1) × overtime hours.
The calculator accepts 0–168 hours, a 1–168-hour threshold, a $0–$100,000 rate and multipliers from 1.5× to 3×. It rejects blanks, nonfinite values and out-of-range results. Fractional hours stay fractional until display, and currency displays to cents.
Quick decision checklist
- Find your employer’s fixed workweek start day and time.
- Total the hours for that one workweek; do not average two weeks.
- Check whether bonuses or extra pay rates change your regular rate.
- Look up your state’s current overtime rule, especially daily limits.
- Compare the estimate with your pay stub once the check arrives.
Sources and review
- DOL: Overtime Pay, for the federal 40-hour workweek rule, 168-hour workweek, no averaging and payday timing.
- DOL Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA (revised October 2019), for covered nonexempt employees, weekends and holidays, and workweek rules.
- DOL Fact Sheet #56A: Regular Rate, for how the regular rate is calculated from total workweek pay and hours.
- DOL: State Minimum Wage Laws (updated July 1, 2026), for state premium-pay thresholds including daily overtime.
- California Labor Commissioner: Overtime FAQ, for California’s daily, double-time and seventh-day rules and alternative workweek schedules.
- IRS FS-2026-13 (August 2026), Q1, Q2, Q12 and Q16, for the limited qualified overtime deduction and what it does not exempt.
Official sources rechecked in a browser on September 28, 2026. Worked amounts were rechecked by hand and against the calculator. Educational estimate only, not payroll, legal or tax advice.
Prepared with AI-assisted research, drafting, and calculation checks. Not independently reviewed by a human financial professional.
