To calculate time and a half, multiply your regular hourly rate by 1.5 to get your overtime rate, then multiply that by the overtime hours you worked. At $20 an hour, time and a half is $30, so 5 overtime hours add $150. Under U.S. federal law, overtime starts after 40 hours in a workweek.
Below are the formula, worked examples for hourly, salaried, bonus and two-rate pay, and the rules that change the math. This is general information, not legal advice. Your state, your contract or your type of job can change what you are owed.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) says covered employees who are not exempt must be paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek, at a rate of at least time and one-half their regular rate of pay. Here is the math:
Overtime rate = regular hourly rate × 1.5
Overtime hours = hours worked in the workweek minus 40
Regular pay = 40 × regular hourly rate
Total gross pay = regular pay + (overtime hours × overtime rate)
There is a second way to reach the same answer, and it is how the Department of Labor (DOL) describes it in its regulations: pay every hour at the straight rate, then add half the hourly rate for each hour over 40. Both methods give the same total, so use whichever is easier to check against your pay stub.
The DOL's own example uses a $12 hourly rate and a 46-hour week:
Straight time: 46 × $12 = $552
Half-time premium: 6 × $6 = $36
Total: $588, the same as 40 × $12 ($480) plus 6 × $18 ($108)
Now a more typical wage. You earn $22.50 an hour and work 47 hours in the week:
Overtime rate: $22.50 × 1.5 = $33.75
Regular pay: 40 × $22.50 = $900.00
Overtime pay: 7 × $33.75 = $236.25
Total gross pay: $1,136.25
Quick reference for common rates:
$15.00 an hour: time and a half is $22.50
$18.50 an hour: $27.75
$20.00 an hour: $30.00
$25.00 an hour: $37.50
$32.40 an hour: $48.60
Partial hours: turn minutes into a decimal by dividing by 60. Two hours and 15 minutes of overtime is 2.25 hours, so at a $30 overtime rate it is worth 2.25 × $30 = $67.50.
Your workweek is fixed. The DOL defines it as a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It does not have to match the calendar week and can start on any day and at any hour, so ask payroll when yours starts.
Each week is counted on its own. Averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted. If you are paid every two weeks and work 35 hours, then 45 hours, the second week has 5 overtime hours even though the two-week total is 80.
Weekends and holidays are not automatic overtime. The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or regular days of rest as such. Those hours earn time and a half only when they take you past 40, unless your employer's policy or your contract pays a premium.
You can't sign it away. The DOL says the overtime requirement may not be waived by agreement between the employer and employees.
Federal overtime is weekly, so a 10-hour day does not earn overtime by itself. Some states add daily rules. In California, for example, the Labor Commissioner says time and a half applies to hours over 8 and up to 12 in a workday, and to the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, with double time after 12 hours in a day and after 8 hours on that seventh day. Check your own state labor department for its rules.
In Ontario, Canada, most employees earn overtime after 44 hours a week instead of 40. Our guide to the Ontario overtime 44-hour rule walks through the math with examples.
Salaried but not exempt. A salary does not cancel overtime on its own. The DOL says a fixed salary for a regular workweek longer than 40 hours does not discharge FLSA obligations. In its example, a $405 weekly salary for a 45-hour week works out to a $9.00 regular rate ($405 ÷ 45). Because the salary already paid every hour at straight time, only the half is added: 5 × $4.50 = $22.50, for $427.50 in total.
Production bonus. A production bonus is folded into your regular rate for that week. In the DOL's example, $12 an hour for 46 hours ($552) plus a $46 production bonus comes to $598, and $598 ÷ 46 = $13.00. Overtime is then based on $13, not $12: 46 × $13 plus 6 × $6.50, or $637 in total.
Two different rates. If you do two kinds of work in one week at different rates, your regular rate is the weighted average. Say you work 30 hours at $20 and 15 hours at $26. Straight-time pay is $600 + $390 = $990. Divide by 45 hours for a regular rate of $22.00. Then add half of that for each of the 5 overtime hours: 5 × $11.00 = $55. Total: $1,045.
Some jobs are exempt from overtime altogether. If you are salaried and never see overtime, it is fair to ask how your role is classified.
Find out which day and hour your employer's workweek starts.
Total your hours for each workweek separately, even if you are paid every two weeks.
Subtract 40, or your state's or province's threshold, to get your overtime hours.
Work out your regular rate for that week, including any production bonus or second rate.
Multiply your overtime hours by 1.5 times that regular rate, or add half the rate on top of straight time.
Compare your answer with the overtime line. If it is different, ask payroll in writing and keep your own record of your hours.
Yes. Time and a half means 1.5 times your regular rate. At $18 an hour, it is $27 an hour.
Not under federal law, which counts hours by the workweek. Some states, such as California, have daily overtime, and an employer can choose to pay it by policy or contract.
Not automatically. The FLSA does not require overtime for weekends or holidays as such. Your employer may still pay a premium by policy or contract, so check your handbook.
Divide the minutes by 60 to get 0.5 hours, then multiply by your overtime rate. At a $30 overtime rate, 30 minutes is worth $15.
EarnCheck is an iPhone shift and pay tracker with overtime presets for the U.S. federal 40-hour rule and Ontario's 44-hour rule, or custom rules, plus a settable workweek start day. It shows your estimated gross pay building across the pay period with the hours, rates and premiums behind each figure, and EarnCheck Pro adds daily overtime and user-defined double time. Its Payday Check compares your pay statement lines by gross amount, but it never contacts your employer for you.
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U.S. Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #23, Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
29 CFR 778.115, Employees working at two or more rates (Cornell LII)