Overtime calculator

What are the overtime rules?

Federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act) covers most hourly workers in every state: at least 1.5 times your regular rate (time and a half) for every hour over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is any fixed run of seven days; hours cannot be averaged over two weeks. Weekends and holidays are not overtime unless they take you over 40 hours.

Four states add daily overtime:

• California: time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, double time over 12, and over 40 in a workweek. On the seventh day in a row in one workweek, the first 8 hours are at time and a half and the rest at double time.
• Alaska: time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, and over 40 in a workweek. Employers with fewer than 4 employees do not have to pay it.
• Nevada: time and a half for hours over 8 in a workday, and over 40 in a workweek. The daily rule is only for pay under 1.5 times the state minimum wage ($18.00 an hour, on $12.00); above it, only the weekly rule applies.
• Colorado: time and a half for hours over 12 in a workday, and over 40 in a workweek.

Hours already paid as daily overtime do not count again toward the 40-hour week. Every other state uses the 40-hour week.

A worked example, by hand

Overtime is time and a half: 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, under federal law, and California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado also pay it by the day. At $25 an hour, four 12-hour days in California pay $1,400.00 (32 hours regular and 16 hours overtime), $100.00 more than federal rules alone.

1. Each 12-hour day in California: 8 regular hours, then 4 at time and a half (hours over 8, up to 12). Four days: 32 hours regular and 16 hours overtime.
2. The weekly rule: 32 hours of regular time is not over 40, so nothing more.
3. Pay: 32 hours × $25.00 = $800.00, plus 16 hours × $37.50 (1.5 × $25.00) = $600.00. Total $1,400.00 for the week.
4. Under federal rules alone (most states): 40 hours regular and 8 hours over 40: $1,000.00 + $300.00 = $1,300.00.
5. Take-home: a year of weeks like this is $72,800.00 before tax; after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, California tax and SDI it is $56,609.28, or about $1,088.64 a week (single).
6. No tax on overtime: only the extra half of overtime that federal law requires counts: 8 hours over 40 × $12.50 = $100.00 this week. California’s daily overtime beyond that does not count.

The result panel above starts on this example.

Who gets overtime, and who is exempt?

Most people paid by the hour get overtime. Some jobs are exempt: the law does not require overtime for them. Being paid a salary is not enough on its own. To be exempt, a salaried employee usually has to do executive, administrative or professional work and be paid at least $684 a week (the federal level; some states set a higher one).

• Salaried and exempt: no overtime pay, however many hours. Managers, many office professionals and some computer jobs.
• Salaried but not exempt: owed overtime like an hourly worker. The regular rate is the salary divided by the hours it pays for.
• Hourly: almost always owed overtime, unless a special rule covers the industry.

This is a plain summary, not legal advice. If you think you are owed overtime, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and your state labor department can help.

Is overtime pay tax free now?

Partly, from 2025 to 2028: the extra half of overtime that federal law requires comes off your taxable income for federal income tax. In the example that is $100.00 for the week. Work out what it saves you with the no tax on overtime calculator, filled in from this week. Take-home pay above leaves the deduction out: it comes back when you file.

What does this calculator leave out?

• It is an estimate, not legal or tax advice. Your contract, union agreement or employer’s policy can pay more than the law requires.
• Exempt jobs (most salaried managers and professionals), and the many special rules by industry: farm work, health care, transport, live-in and domestic workers, and others.
• Alternative workweeks and other agreed schedules that change when daily overtime starts (such as California’s alternative workweeks and Alaska’s voluntary flexible hour plans).
• The regular rate: overtime is paid on your regular rate, which includes most bonuses, commissions and shift pay. Enter the rate that includes them.
• Take-home pay treats every week of the year like this one, with nothing taken before tax; it does not include the no tax on overtime deduction, which comes back when you file.