Overtime and state rules · rules read October 11, 2026
Alaska overtime after eight hours in a day
The calculator is set to Alaska: enter the hours of each day and your wage to count daily and weekly overtime the way the state does.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Overtime pay this week
$108.00
4.00 h at 1.5x · gross $828.00
| Total hours | 44.00 h |
| Regular hours | 40.00 h × $18.00 |
| Overtime hours | 4.00 h × $27.00 |
| Gross pay before taxes | $828.00 |
Alaska: overtime after 8 hours a day and after 40 hours a week. Days are in workweek order. How this is calculated.
Alaska pays overtime by the day as well as by the week: time and a half for every hour past 8 in a day and past 40 in a workweek, according to the state Wage and Hour Act and the Department of Labor’s table of state laws. The rule binds employers with 4 or more employees. A second figure matters for long shifts: under a voluntary flexible work hour plan approved by the state, daily overtime starts after 10 hours instead of 8. Four ten-hour days at $24 show the difference plainly. Without a plan they hold 8 overtime hours and pay $1,056.00; with an approved plan they hold 0 and pay $960.00. Five such days give 10 overtime hours either way, because the weekly line catches what the daily one does not. The Alaska minimum wage shown in the federal table is $14.00, so an overtime hour at the floor is worth $21.00.
One long day in Alaska: how the hours split
Pay for the day
$225.00
| Regular | 8.00 h |
| Overtime 1.5x | 3.00 h |
| Double time 2x | 0.00 h |
Same day under the federal rule alone: $198.00, no overtime until 40 hours in the week.
Four employees and up: who the daily count reaches
The Alaska Wage and Hour Act adds a daily layer to the federal weekly one. The Department of Labor’s state table summarizes it in a line: premium pay after 8 hours a day and 40 a week, for employers of 4 or more employees, with the flexible plan noted in the margin. That size threshold is the first thing to check on a disputed paycheck from a small Anchorage contractor or a family lodge. Three people on the payroll: the state daily rule is off, and only the federal test may apply. Four: every hour past 8 in a day earns 1.5 times the regular rate.
Alaska has no double time and no seventh-day premium in the table. Its rule is plain time and a half, which makes the arithmetic shorter than in California: count the daily excess, then count straight-time hours past 40, and never pay an hour twice. An 11-hour Tuesday inside a 30-hour week gives 3 overtime hours that a worker in a state with only the weekly federal standard would not see.
Ten-hour days under a flexible work hour plan
Four-day rotations of long shifts are where the flexible plan earns its place. The employer and the employees agree to it voluntarily and the state approves it; once it is in place, the daily trigger moves from 8 to 10 hours. Nothing else changes: the weekly line stays at 40 and the rate stays at time and a half. The table below runs the same schedules through both versions and through the federal rule.
| Schedule | Rate | Default Alaska rule | Approved flex plan | FLSA only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four 10-hour days | $24 | 8 OT h, $1,056.00 | 0 OT h, $960.00 | 0 OT h, $960.00 |
| Five 10-hour days | $24 | 10 OT h, $1,320.00 | 10 OT h, $1,320.00 | 10 OT h, $1,320.00 |
| Three 12-hour shifts | $14.00 | 12 OT h, $588.00 | 6 OT h, $546.00 | 0 OT h, $504.00 |
Read the middle row carefully. With five ten-hour days, the plan saves the employer nothing, since all 10 hours past 40 are overtime under any version. The plan only changes the pay of schedules that stay at or under 40 hours with long days, which is exactly the four-day rotation. A worker on such a rotation who is paid straight time for every hour should ask to see the approval: without it, the default 8-hour rule applies.
Paychecks at the Alaska minimum
The federal table lists the Alaska minimum wage at $14.00 an hour, almost double the federal $7.25. Overtime at that floor is $21.00 an hour, and a standard 40-hour week earns $560.00 before any deduction. The calculator uses whatever hourly wage you type, so a higher contract rate works the same way. For other states that count overtime by the day, the daily overtime comparison lines them up, and the main overtime calculator lets you switch rules on the same week. If the employer pays a weekly salary instead of an hourly wage, the salaried overtime page shows how the regular rate is found.