The federal rule counts weeks, not days
The federal standard is one sentence long: overtime must be paid at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which the employee is actually employed, for hours beyond forty in a workweek. Four ten-hour days and one day off is fifty hours — ten of them at time and a half. Under federal law alone, five eight-hour days and one thirteen-hour day plus four short ones can produce exactly the same pay, because only the weekly total counts.
Where the day matters too
California, and a few states that follow the same logic, add a daily rule: time and a half after eight hours in a workday, and double time beyond twelve hours in a single day. The two rules do not stack on the same hour — an hour already paid at a premium for the day is not counted again for the week. That is why the calculator above applies whichever rule is more favourable, hour by hour, rather than adding them.
What “regular rate” actually means
Overtime is a multiple of your regular rate, which is not always your posted wage. Non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials and production incentives generally have to be folded back in before the multiplier applies, which raises the overtime rate above 1.5 times the base wage. If your pay includes such items, treat the figure above as a floor.
Questions people ask
Does my employer have to pay overtime if I am on a salary?
Often, yes. A salary alone does not remove the right — the job must also meet a duties test and a salary threshold to be exempt. A salaried employee who does not meet both is owed the same premium as anyone else.
Do the daily and weekly rules add up?
No. An hour already paid at a premium under the daily rule is not counted again toward the weekly threshold. The calculator applies the more favourable rule to each hour, never both.
Is overtime taxed at a higher rate?
No. It is ordinary wages. A big overtime week can push a single paycheck into a higher withholding band because payroll formulas annualize that paycheck, but the tax owed on the year does not change — the same misunderstanding as with bonuses.