Overtime Pay Calculator

How This Calculator Works

Enter your base rate, any shift differential, and how many hours fall into regular, overtime, and double-time for the week. If the differential applied to every hour you worked, leave "Hours with the differential" blank. The calculator works out your true "regular rate of pay" — your base pay plus differential pay for that week — the number federal law actually requires overtime to be based on, then applies the 1.5× and 2× multipliers to that rate, not just your base wage. Switch to Biweekly and you'll get a second set of fields for Week 2: federal law calculates overtime separately for each workweek (29 CFR 778.104), so the two weeks are never averaged together, even though the total you see at the top combines both.

Worked example, differential on every hour: $22/hr base, a $2/hr night differential, 40 regular hours and 6 overtime hours in a week, differential hours left blank. Regular rate of pay = $22 + $2 = $24/hr. Regular pay = 40 × $24 = $960. Overtime pay = 6 × $24 × 1.5 = $216. Total gross pay = $1,176 for the week.

Worked example, differential on part of the week: same $22/hr base and $2/hr differential, but now 46 total hours (40 regular + 6 overtime) where only 16 of them — say, two night shifts — earned the differential. Regular rate of pay = (46 × $22 + 16 × $2) ÷ 46 = ($1,012 + $32) ÷ 46 ≈ $22.70/hr. Regular pay = 40 × $22.6957 ≈ $907.83. Overtime pay = 6 × $22.6957 × 1.5 ≈ $204.26. Total gross pay ≈ $1,112.09 — noticeably less than if the differential were spread over every hour, because it only actually applied to a third of them.

Worked example, biweekly with two different weeks: $22/hr base, $2/hr differential. Week 1: 40 regular + 6 overtime hours, all with the differential — same as the first example, $1,176. Week 2: a lighter week, 32 regular hours, no overtime, and this time the differential hours field is set to 0 since none of those hours were nights — regular rate of pay is just $22/hr, so pay = 32 × $22 = $704. Combined gross pay for the period = $1,176 + $704 = $1,880. Averaging the two weeks into one blended rate instead (as some calculators do) would have overstated Week 2's pay and understated Week 1's overtime premium — calculating each week on its own is what federal law actually requires. Read our guide: how overtime pay is calculated.

The Mistake Most Overtime Calculators Make

A shift differential is "non-discretionary" compensation, meaning your employer promised it as part of the job, not a surprise bonus. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, any non-discretionary pay has to be folded into your regular rate before the overtime multiplier is applied. Plenty of simple calculators skip this: they compute 1.5× your base wage, then tack the differential on separately as a flat add-on. That understates what you're legally owed on every overtime hour, since the differential itself should also get the 1.5× (or 2×) treatment. This calculator folds it in correctly.

The second common mistake shows up in biweekly calculators: averaging two workweeks together into one blended rate. Federal law treats each workweek as its own, separate unit for overtime purposes (29 CFR 778.104) — a light week and a heavy week in the same pay period don't get smoothed into an average. This calculator asks for each week's hours separately in Biweekly mode and computes each one's regular rate and overtime premium on its own, then adds the two weeks together for the total.

Federal Rules vs. State Rules

This calculator doesn't guess your state's rule for you — you tell it how many hours are regular, overtime, and double-time (from your schedule, your pay stub, or your state's threshold), and it handles the dollar math correctly from there. That keeps it accurate everywhere, since the trigger rules genuinely differ by state and even by union contract, but the premium math (1.5× and 2× of the full regular rate) does not.

Who Is Owed Overtime?

Federal overtime rules apply to "non-exempt" employees, generally hourly workers. Salaried employees can be "exempt" from overtime if they meet specific duties tests and earn above a minimum salary threshold set by the Department of Labor, which is updated periodically. Many salaried healthcare, retail, and office workers assume they're exempt when they aren't — exemption depends on actual job duties, not just the paycheck format or a job title. If you're salaried and regularly work well past 40 hours, it's worth checking your exemption status against current DOL guidance.

Why Shift Differentials Exist

Differentials compensate for less desirable hours: nights, weekends, holidays, or hard-to-staff units. They're common in healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and public safety — anywhere someone has to keep the lights on around the clock. A $2 to $4/hr night differential is typical in healthcare; some facilities pay a flat percentage (often 10 to 15%) instead of a flat dollar amount. Either way, the same rule applies: it counts toward your regular rate for overtime purposes.