Timecard GuruHow the overtime split works
An overtime calculator takes a pile of hours and a line. Hours up to the line stay at the straight rate. Hours past the line are multiplied again. The sample week is nine hours Monday through Friday, which is 45 hours. The line starts at 40. Regular hours are 40 and overtime hours are 5. At $20 an hour and a 1.5 multiplier, regular pay is 40 × 20 = $800 and overtime pay is 5 × 20 × 1.5 = $150. Together that is $950.
Change any day, the rate, the line, or the multiplier and the three hour figures and the dollars follow. A multiplier of 2 is double time. A line of 8, with only one day filled in, is a rough daily check. The math is the same either way: regular hours are the smaller of the total and the threshold, and overtime hours are whatever is left. Pay is not estimated until you type a rate. A rate of 0 still shows the hour split, which is useful when you only need to know how many hours crossed the line.
Enter paid hours, not clock time
Type the hours you expect to be paid for. If lunch is unpaid, it should already be out of the number. A 9:00 to 17:30 day with a 30-minute unpaid lunch is 8.00 paid hours, not 8.50. Mixing clock time and paid time is how a week that looks like 45 hours becomes a fight on Friday. If you still have clock-in and clock-out times, add the week on the weekly time card calculator first, or use the weekly timesheet calculator when you want the week, breaks, and an optional pay estimate together. Bring the paid total here when you want the dollars.
Daily boxes accept decimals. 8.5 is eight and a half hours, which is 8 hours and 30 minutes, not 8 hours and 5 minutes. If you are unsure of a decimal, convert it on the decimal to hours calculator before you drop it into a day. 2.25 hours is 2 hours and 15 minutes. 8.15 hours is 8 hours and 9 minutes, and it is a different length of time from 8 hours and 15 minutes.
What this estimate leaves out
The dollar line is hours times rate. It does not take out taxes, and it does not add shift differentials, bonuses, or a guaranteed weekly salary. It also does not know which rule applies to you. Many jobs use a weekly line at 40 hours and time and a half after that. Some use a daily line, and some contracts pay double time after a second line. Set the threshold and the multiplier to the rule on your agreement, and treat the result as a check against the stub, not as a filing.
If two different multipliers apply in the same week, run the calculator twice and add the overtime pay yourself. One threshold and one multiplier keep this page honest about the arithmetic it is actually doing. For the single shift that produced one of the daily numbers, the hours calculator measures the gap between two clock times.
Frequently Asked Questions
+How is overtime pay calculated on this page?
Hours up to the threshold are regular. Hours past it are overtime. Regular pay is regular hours times the rate. Overtime pay is overtime hours times the rate times the multiplier. The sample week is 45 hours at $20 with a 40-hour line and a 1.5 multiplier: $800 + $150 = $950.
+What threshold should I use?
The field starts at 40 hours because that is a common weekly line. If your workplace uses a different weekly number, or you are checking a daily cap, change the threshold. This page does not apply state rules for you.
+Does a 1.5 multiplier mean time and a half?
Yes. 1.5 times the hourly rate is time and a half. Double time is a multiplier of 2. The field accepts either, and any other rate your contract uses.
+Should lunch be included in the daily hours?
Enter paid hours, after unpaid lunch is removed. If you still have clock times, total them on the weekly time card calculator first, then bring the paid total here.
+Is the dollar amount a paycheck?
No. It is straight hours times rate, with no taxes, differentials, or guarantees. Use it to check the hours split and the rough gross, then compare with your pay stub.
+Are short rest breaks paid?
When the Fair Labor Standards Act applies, yes. 29 CFR 785.18 says rest periods of short duration, running from 5 minutes to about 20 minutes, must be counted as hours worked. That paid rest time may not be offset against other working time. A 10-minute rest break stays in the paid total. It is not a meal period. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-785/subpart-C/section-785.18
+Is a 30-minute meal period unpaid?
A bona fide meal period is not hours worked. 29 CFR 785.19 says the employee must be completely relieved of duty for the purpose of eating a regular meal. Ordinarily 30 minutes or more is long enough. Coffee breaks and time for snacks are rest periods, not meal periods. If the employee has to perform any duties while eating, the time is hours worked. The employee does not have to be allowed to leave the premises if they are otherwise completely freed from duty. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-785/subpart-C/section-785.19
+Can an employer round time clock punches?
29 CFR 785.48(b) describes rounding start and stop times to the nearest 5 minutes, the nearest tenth of an hour, or the nearest quarter of an hour. The practice is accepted for enforcement only when it averages out and does not, over a period of time, fail to pay for all the time actually worked. Rounding that always shortens the shift does not meet that test. The time clock rounding calculator at https://timecardguru.com/time-clock-rounding-calculator applies the quarter-hour practice and the nearest tenth of an hour. Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-785/subpart-D/section-785.48
+Is overtime calculated on the biweekly paycheck?
No. Each workweek stands alone. 29 CFR 778.104 says the Act does not permit averaging hours over two or more weeks, even when the employee is paid biweekly. Someone who works 30 hours one week and 50 the next is owed overtime for the hours past the weekly maximum in the second week, even though the two-week average is 40. 29 CFR 778.107 states the general standard: those overtime hours are paid at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate. Exemptions exist, and this is not a coverage decision. Sources: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-778/subpart-B/section-778.104 and https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-778/subpart-B/section-778.107