Overtime and state rules · rules read October 11, 2026
Overtime for salaried nonexempt employees
Enter the weekly salary and the hours actually worked; the calculator divides one by the other and adds half the rate for each overtime hour.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Overtime owed on top of the salary
$75.00
regular rate $18.75 an hour this week
| Regular rate (salary ÷ hours) | $18.75 |
| Overtime hours | 8.00 h |
| Half-time premium per overtime hour | $9.38 |
| Total pay for the week | $975.00 |
For a nonexempt employee whose salary covers all hours worked (Fact Sheet #23). A salary meant for 40 hours only is converted at 40 instead. How this is calculated.
A salaried employee is owed overtime unless the job meets an exemption, and a salary alone never creates one. For a nonexempt worker whose weekly salary covers all the hours worked, the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #23 sets out the method: divide the salary by the hours actually worked to find that week’s regular rate, then pay half of it for every hour past 40. Its own example uses $405 for 45 hours: the regular rate is $9.00, and the 5 overtime hours add $22.50, for $427.50 in the week. The salary already pays straight time for every hour, which is why only the half is added. Because the rate drops as hours rise, a $620 salary is worth $12.92 an hour in a 48-hour week and the overtime top-up is $51.67. The federal exemption for white-collar jobs needs at least $684 a week plus duties that qualify; below that figure, overtime is owed whatever the job title.
Overtime on a weekly salary
Overtime owed on top
$51.67
| Regular rate this week | $12.92 |
| Overtime hours | 8.00 |
| Total pay | $671.67 |
| Below the exempt salary level | Yes |
The Fact Sheet #23 method, line by line
The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #23 treats salaried nonexempt workers the same way it treats piece workers and commissioned staff: overtime is computed on an average hourly rate found by dividing the week's pay by the hours actually worked. For a salary intended to cover whatever hours are worked, that gives a figure that changes each week. Long weeks lower it, short weeks raise it. The overtime top-up is then half of that rate, multiplied by the hours past 40.
Run the agency's own figures. $405 over 45 hours is $9.00 an hour. Half of that is $4.50. Five hours past the line make $22.50. The paycheck is $427.50, not $405. The arithmetic is the same at any amount, and the calculator above repeats it with your salary and your hours.
| Hours worked | Regular rate | Overtime hours | Half-time owed | Total for the week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | $15.50 | 0 | $0.00 | $620.00 |
| 44 | $14.09 | 4 | $28.18 | $648.18 |
| 48 | $12.92 | 8 | $51.67 | $671.67 |
| 50 | $12.40 | 10 | $62.00 | $682.00 |
| 55 | $11.27 | 15 | $84.55 | $704.55 |
| 60 | $10.33 | 20 | $103.33 | $723.33 |
The table shows the trade-off for the employer and the employee. At 40 hours the $620 salary works out to $15.50 an hour; at 60 hours, to $10.33. Overtime still rises with each hour, but by less than it would for an hourly worker at the starting rate. An hourly worker paid $15.50, the same money for a 40-hour week, would earn $806.00 for 48 hours, against $671.67 for the salaried worker. The difference, $134.33 in that week, comes entirely from the falling regular rate.
Salary is not an exemption
A common misunderstanding treats "salaried" and "exempt" as the same word. They are not. The white-collar exemptions need a salary of at least $684 a week, set by the Department of Labor’s salary levels page, and a primary duty that is executive, administrative or professional. A separate level for highly compensated employees, $107,432 a year, comes with its own test. Below $684 a week, nobody in those categories is exempt, title or not.
California raises the floor to twice its minimum wage for full-time work, $70,304 a year in 2026, and counts overtime by the day as well. A salaried office coordinator in San Diego on $60,000 a year is nonexempt there, and long days count. The exempt versus nonexempt guide walks through the duties tests; the California overtime page covers the daily rules, and the regular rate page explains how bonuses paid with a salary change the rate.
Checking a salaried pay stub
Three questions catch most errors. Are hours recorded at all? Overtime can only be checked against hours written down, and the timesheet produces that record. Does the stub show an overtime line in weeks past 40 hours? If the salary is the same in a 38-hour week and a 52-hour week, something is missing. Is the half-time computed on that week's hours, not on a fixed figure? Dividing by the actual hours is what the Fact Sheet describes for a salary that covers all hours worked; a stub that shows the same rate every week deserves a question to payroll.