How time and a half works
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), most hourly employees are "non-exempt," meaning they're legally entitled to overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their regular rate of payfor every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. That's where the phrase "time and a half" comes from: your normal hourly rate, plus half again.
The FLSA's "regular rate" is technically a bit broader than just your stated hourly wage — it can also fold in things like non-discretionary bonuses, commissions, or shift differentials earned during that workweek, which raises the base the 1.5× multiplier is applied to. This calculator keeps things simple and uses the hourly rate you enter as the regular rate, which is accurate for the common case of a straightforward hourly job with no bonus pay factored in.
A "workweek" for overtime purposes is a fixed, recurring block of 7 consecutive 24-hour days that your employer sets — it doesn't reset with your pay schedule. So if you're paid biweekly, overtime is still calculated separately for each of the two workweeks inside that pay period, not averaged across both. As an example, someone earning $20 an hour who works 40 regular hours plus 5 hours of overtime in a week earns $800 in regular pay, plus 5 × $30 (their time-and-a-half rate) = $150 in overtime pay, for a total of $950 that week.
Quick reference: time and a half pay
Here's what time and a half works out to for a few common hourly rates, along with what 5 hours of overtime at that rate adds to your paycheck:
| Regular rate | Time-and-a-half rate | Pay for 5 OT hours |
|---|---|---|
| $12.00/hr | $18.00/hr | $90.00 |
| $15.00/hr | $22.50/hr | $112.50 |
| $18.00/hr | $27.00/hr | $135.00 |
| $20.00/hr | $30.00/hr | $150.00 |
| $25.00/hr | $37.50/hr | $187.50 |
| $30.00/hr | $45.00/hr | $225.00 |
The same math works for double time — just swap in a 2× multiplier instead of 1.5×. For example, $20 an hour at double time is $40 an hour, or $200 for 5 hours of overtime. Use the multiplier selector in the calculator above to switch between the two.
State differences
The 40-hours-per-week rule is the federal floor, but some states add their own overtime triggers on top of it, and employers have to follow whichever rule is more generous to the employee. California is the best-known example: it generally requires overtime pay at 1.5× for hours worked over 8 in a single day (not just over 40 in the week), and 2× — double time — for hours worked over 12 in a single day. California also has a separate "seventh consecutive day" rule: if someone works all 7 days of a single workweek, the first 8 hours on that seventh day are paid at 1.5× and anything beyond 8 hours on that day is paid at 2×.
A handful of other states — including Alaska, Colorado, and Nevada — also apply some form of daily overtime rule, though the exact hours-per-day thresholds and conditions differ from state to state. Rules like this vary a lot, and many states have no daily overtime requirement at all and follow only the federal 40-hour rule. Always check your own state labor department's current rules, since they can change and this calculator only applies the multiplier you select — it doesn't automatically apply any state's daily overtime rule for you.
Who is exempt from overtime
Not every worker is covered by overtime rules. The FLSA carves out exemptions for certain executive, administrative, and professional employees (often called the "white collar" exemptions), as well as outside sales employees and some computer professionals. To qualify as exempt, an employee generally has to meet both a specific job-duties test and be paid at least a minimum salary threshold set by the Department of Labor.
A common misconception is that being paid a salary automatically means no overtime — that's not true. Salaried employees who don't meet the duties and salary tests for an exemption are still legally entitled to overtime pay. The salary threshold used for these tests is set by the Department of Labor and gets updated from time to time, so it's worth checking the current figure rather than relying on an old number. If you're not sure how you're classified, ask your employer or check with your state labor department.
This calculator is provided for general estimation purposes only and isn't legal or payroll advice. For guidance specific to your situation, talk to your employer, a payroll professional, or your state labor department.