Use the dropdowns below to understand overtime compliance by state, as well as how to add and calculate overtime.
If you need to run a report on overtime hours and pay, follow the steps in this article to view and download a report.
Summaries of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state-specific overtime laws can be found below.
Important: If you use Gusto Time tracking, refer to the regulations for the state of your employees' assigned work location in Gusto.
The Department of Labor states:
“For covered, nonexempt employees, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires overtime pay to be at least one and one-half times an employee's regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a workweek.
Some states have their own overtime laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal overtime laws, the employee is entitled to overtime according to the higher standard (i.e., the standard that will provide the higher overtime pay).
The federal baseline for overtime is 1.5 x RRP (regular rate of pay) for all hours over 40 in a week. More information about overtime can be found here.
| Overtime type |
Hourly rate multiplier (RRP= regular rate of pay) |
| Weekly overtime | 1.5 times RRP |
| Daily overtime | 1.5 times RRP |
| Daily double overtime | 2.0 times RRP |
| 7th consecutive day of any one workweek | 1.5 times RRP |
This table was last revised September 2023
State |
Overtime occurs after... |
Overtime calculation(RRP = regular rate of pay) |
Explanation |
| Alabama |
|
|
|
| Alaska |
|
|
|
| Arizona |
|
|
|
| Arkansas |
|
|
|
| California |
|
|
|
| Colorado |
|
|
|
| Connecticut |
|
|
|
| Delaware |
|
|
|
| Florida |
|
|
|
| Georgia |
|
|
|
| Hawaii |
|
|
|
| Idaho |
|
|
|
| Illinois |
|
|
|
| Indiana |
|
|
|
| Iowa |
|
|
|
| Kansas |
|
|
|
| Kentucky |
|
|
|
| Louisiana |
|
|
|
| Maine |
|
|
|
| Maryland |
|
|
|
| Massachusetts |
|
|
|
| Michigan |
|
|
|
| Minnesota |
|
|
|
| Mississippi |
|
|
|
| Missouri |
|
|
|
| Montana |
|
|
|
| Nebraska |
|
|
|
|
Nevada |
|
|
|
| New Hampshire |
|
|
|
| New Jersey |
|
|
|
| New Mexico |
|
|
|
| New York |
|
|
|
| North Carolina |
|
|
|
| North Dakota |
|
|
|
| Ohio |
|
|
|
| Oklahoma |
|
|
|
| Oregon |
|
|
|
| Pennsylvania |
|
|
|
| Rhode Island |
|
|
|
| South Carolina |
|
|
|
| South Dakota |
|
|
|
| Tennessee |
|
|
|
| Texas |
|
|
|
| Utah |
|
|
|
| Vermont |
|
|
|
| Virginia |
|
|
|
| Washington |
|
|
|
| Washington DC |
|
|
|
| West Virginia |
|
|
|
| Wisconsin |
|
|
|
| Wyoming |
|
|
|
If you pay time-and-a-half for holidays, you'll use the same instructions. If you pay holiday hours at the same rate as regular hours, either set up a holiday pay policy or simply put all the employee’s hours in the RH (Regular Hours) field.
It's the employer's discretion if you want to have paid time off taken by an employee count toward the calculation of the overtime—these hours are not actually "worked" and therefore not considered as hours counted toward overtime under the FLSA.
The rate used for overtime pay varies depending on your payroll schedule and how many pay rates you have. This overtime pay calculation applies to all hourly employees who have only one pay rate.
Regular pay: First multiply your regular hours (overtime hours not included) worked by your regular pay rate to get your regular pay.
Overtime pay: Calculate the overtime rate by first multiplying your regular pay rate by 1.5 (for regular overtime) or 2 (for double overtime). Multiply this overtime rate by the amount of overtime hours to get the overtime pay.
Gross wages: Adding the overtime pay with your regular pay will give your total gross wages for the pay period.
Your employee works 40 regular hours a week at $20 per hour. She decides to work an additional 10 hours in overtime. The following calculation will be used for gross wages:
This overtime pay calculation applies to hourly employees who have multiple pay rates.
Overtime will be calculated using a regular rate of pay based on the weighted average rate. See more details on this calculation with the Department of Labor here.
If you're using Gusto Time Tracking, this is what multiple pay rates will look like when you run payroll.
Regular pay: First multiply each job rate by the number of job hours worked (overtime hours included), and adding these amounts together. This will give your regular pay amount.
Overtime pay: Calculate your additional overtime amount by first dividing your regular pay by the total hours worked in the pay period (overtime hours included). This will give you the weighted average rate. Multiply this weighted average rate by 50% (for regular overtime) or 100% (for double overtime), and then multiply this rate by the amount of overtime hours to get the additional overtime pay.
Gross wages: Adding the overtime pay with your regular pay will give your total gross wages for the pay period.
Your employee works as a waiter 40 regular hours a week at $16 per hour. He also works as a bartender 1 hour a week at $11.80 per hour. He decides to work an additional 2.48 hours as a waiter in overtime. The following calculation will be used for gross wages:
Note: Paystubs and payroll reports will show a different weighted overtime rate than the process flow in your account. However, the net pay is the same, it's just displayed a little differently. Here's a breakdown using the example above.
Weighted overtime rate calculation shown in the payroll flow
The payroll flow in your account would show the weighted overtime pay as $7.95.
Weighted overtime rate calculation shown on a paystub
An employee's paystub would show the weighted overtime rate as $23.95.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay employees overtime compensation at a rate of at least 1.5 times their "regular rate" for time worked in excess of 40 hours during a given workweek. There are also state-specific overtime laws.
An employee's regular rate is the base hourly rate used for calculating overtime pay. When an employee is compensated solely by an hourly wage, the employee's regular rate is the same as the hourly wage. However, when an employee is also compensated for eligible supplemental payment earnings (such as production bonuses), these payments should be included in an employee's regular rate to accurately compute overtime pay.
The regular rate is determined by summing the employee's total workweek compensation (minus excludable payments) and dividing it by the number of hours worked during the workweek. Essentially, the regular rate converts an employee's eligible supplemental payments to an hourly rate also, to then determine overtime pay (see the Federal Regulation on Overtime Compensation).
Calculation formula
* in the workweek
Total Earnings* - Excluded Earnings*
RRP = -----------------------------------------------
Total Hours Worked*
Example: Sam works 44 hours in a given workweek ($10/hr) and earns $200 in commission. What should Sam’s gross pay be?
Regular Rate of Pay (RRP) is calculated based on custom earnings and workweek breakdown (in the payroll flow).
Learn how to set up earning types and set whether they should be included or excluded from overtime.