How Overtime Pay is Calculated

In most countries and jurisdictions, workers, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or casual, are entitled to overtime if they exceed a set amount of working time in a work week. Overtime laws, attitudes toward overtime work, and hours of work vary significantly between countries, states, and sectors. Work done on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and regular days of rest is not considered overtime unless the organization clearly states that in the employment contract.

However, there are some basic federal overtime rules to which you must adhere when classifying your employees. A common approach to regulating overtime is for governments to require employers to pay workers at a higher hourly rate for overtime work. There are two options for calculating overtime pay for salaried employees. The answer depends on the number of hours the employee worked during your workweek. A “workweek” is a regularly recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It may begin on any day and hour the employer chooses as long as it repeats on a regular basis.

Rate of Basic Pay

However, in most companies, they get a bonus which is typically linked to their performance or annual profits. Overtime (OT) pay is the hourly wage that employers owe to employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Specifically, if an employee who gets paid by the hour works more than 40 hours in a week, by law their employer must pay them time and a half for the additional hours, or 1.5 times their hourly wage. For example, several states say that anything over 8 hours in a day is overtime, rather than the federal requirement of 40 hours in a week. Where both state and federal overtime laws apply, the standard that is more favorable to the employee should be applied. Federal overtime laws are based on a 40-hour workweek, but some states calculate overtime by the workday.

It may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day and is not impacted by an employee’s pay frequency, e.g., bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly. Additionally, each workweek stands alone, which means that averaging hours worked over two or more workweeks is not permitted. Overtime wages, or time and a half, are 1.5 times an employee’s regular pay rate for each hour worked over 40 in a workweek. So if an employee makes $20 per hour, their overtime rate would be $30 (1.5 times their regular rate of pay).

Workweek Definition and Overtime

An exempt employee is paid a salary, while a non-exempt one receives an hourly wage. To protect employee rights, federal overtime laws ensure qualifying individuals receive compensation for extra work. Unless an employee has exempt status, you must follow the federal overtime law. Overtime gets confusing when it comes to salaried versus hourly employees.

It really depends on the company, the employees, and the specific circumstances. This way, they can start and finish their workday at a time that works best for them. Just be sure to set clear guidelines so everyone is on the same page. It might seem counterintuitive, but employees who take regular breaks are actually more independent and dependent variables productive than those who don’t. When it comes down to it, the complexities of today’s work world mean you may have a variety of employees adhering to a variety of schedules. According to a survey from Upwork, 26.7% of employees worked remotely in 2021; by 2025, over 36 million Americans will be working remotely.

Overtime pay calculation for nonexempt employees earning a salary

The simple answer is yes, eligible part-time employees receive overtime pay. That’s because the FLSA does not distinguish between part-time and full-time employees — which is good news for employees since it means the law applies equally to all workers, regardless of their status. In other words, eligible part-time employees who work beyond normal working hours are just as entitled to overtime pay as their full-time colleagues. The purpose of overtime pay is to provide employees with more compensation for their time and compensate them fairly when they have extra responsibilities that need to be completed. Overtime pay is designed to protect both employers and workers through fair wages, consistent work hours, and a productive workforce.

Last week, Ernie worked an additional 5 hours, ending the workweek with a total of 45 hours. Employers are not required to pay exempt employees overtime but must do so for non-exempt employees. But thanks to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), all those extra hours worked should be extra rewarding when you get your next paycheck. To help you plan ahead, we’ve got answers for three of the most common questions about overtime pay.

What are the implications of overtime work?

For instance, if an employee is eligible to receive overtime pay and their standard workweek is 40 hours, working 55 hours in a given week means they will earn overtime pay for those extra 15 hours. Ordinarily, the hours to be used in computing the regular rate of pay may not exceed the legal maximum regular hours which, in most cases, is 8 hours per workday, 40 hours per workweek. This maximum may also be affected by the number of days one works in a workweek. Eligibility for overtime pay is based on weekly earnings and hours worked. Overtime pay is calculated based on a 40-hour workweek, and overtime pay for eligible employees is required for any hours worked over those 40 hours.

If they don’t earn enough commissions, you’ll have to pay them overtime for those weeks when they worked for more than 40 hours. Flexible schedules work especially well for salaried employees who are focused on task completion instead of working a set number of hours. However, you may need to account for overtime with your salaried employees as well. By law, some salaried employees are exempt from receiving overtime, but others are not. If you don’t pay your employees overtime where you’re legally obligated to do so, you may face legal consequences—which could include being sued by your employees.