Overtime Calculator

What overtime is, and when it starts

Overtime is work done beyond a threshold set by law or by contract, paid at a higher rate than the hours below that threshold. Two numbers define it and neither of them comes out of the arithmetic: the threshold, which says where ordinary hours end, and the multiplier, which says how much more the hours above it are worth.

The threshold is usually weekly: 40 hours in the United States under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 48 as the averaged ceiling under the EU Working Time Directive. It can just as easily be daily, though, eight hours a day in California and across much of continental Europe. The multiplier is the part that varies most. Time and a half is the familiar one, double time exists mainly for Sundays and public holidays, and continental agreements more often use percentages that step up with the hour of the day.

Overtime pay is then the ordinary hours at the normal rate plus the excess hours at the normal rate times the multiplier. 46 hours against a 40-hour threshold at €20 an hour with time and a half is €800 plus €180, so €980, and an effective €21.30 for every hour actually worked.

The arithmetic, and the number people forget

Overtime pay is two sums added together, and both are easy. The part that gets skipped is the third number: the effective hourly rate, total pay divided by hours actually worked.

It matters because overtime makes a job look better paid than it is per hour of life. Forty-six hours for €980 is €21.30 an hour, not €30: the headline overtime rate applies to six hours, not to the week. When comparing two jobs, or deciding whether an extra shift is worth it, the effective rate is the honest comparison and the overtime multiplier is the marketing.

The multiplier, and where the threshold comes from

• 1.5: time and a half the most common premium, and the statutory rate for hours over 40 a week under the US Fair Labor Standards Act for non-exempt employees.
• 2: double time usually reserved for public holidays, Sundays or hours beyond a second threshold. Common in collective agreements rather than in law.
• Something else entirely many European systems use smaller percentages that step up: 15% for the first hours, 30% after, more at night or at the weekend. Enter the multiplier your contract actually states rather than assuming 1.5.
• The threshold is not always 40 it can be daily rather than weekly, eight hours a day in much of continental Europe and in California, and collective agreements often set it lower than the law does.

Why the rate to multiply may not be your basic rate

In several systems the premium is calculated on a "regular rate" that is broader than base pay: it folds in shift allowances, non-discretionary bonuses and commission, so the overtime hour is worth more than base × 1.5. The US FLSA regular rate works this way, and getting it wrong is one of the most common sources of back-pay claims.

Salaried workers are the other trap. A salary has an implied hourly rate, annual pay divided by the contractual hours, and whether overtime is owed at all depends on whether the role is exempt, which is a legal test about duties and pay level, not a line in a contract. If you are salaried and unsure, calculate the implied rate first with the weekly hours calculator, then come back here.

What this does not decide

It is arithmetic, not employment law. It does not know your contract, your country, your sector or your collective agreement, and those are what actually determine the threshold, the multiplier, whether the hours were authorised, and whether time off in lieu applies instead of pay.

Nor does it know about caps. Many systems limit overtime, a maximum a week, a maximum a year, a minimum rest between shifts, and exceeding them is a compliance problem that no amount of correct multiplication fixes. Use the figures here as the input to that conversation, not as the answer to it.