Overtime is calculated when you exceed your regular work hours. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a builder, an office worker, or a manager, overtime often applies to you.
Almost everyone has worked or will work overtime in their life. As such, you often receive extra payment for working more hours.
Most work weeks are 40 hours divided into eight hours per day. Most labor laws set this as the standard, with anything over that being considered overtime. The 40-hour policy is there to protect a worker’s health as well as a company’s productivity. Most people achieve more in fewer hours than they do in an excessive amount of hours.
Many things determine how overtime works. It could be an agreement between you and your boss, your industry, or your experience. Many labor laws also factor in and protect people from being forced to work long hours. As such, businesses must compensate their workers for more labor.
‘Time and a half’ has come to mean the same as overtime. In most cases, overtime includes your regular wage and 50 percent more. That means that for every hour of overtime you work, you receive payment for 1.5 hours. Thus, ‘time and a half’ is the more popular terminology for overtime.
Even though 1.5 hours is the ‘standard’ for overtime, it’s not the same everywhere. Each country and company is different. For example, some companies pay extra for night work, weekends, or holidays. FLSA rules say this is not a necessity unless your worker goes over their 40-hour week.
You can adjust the settings in the overtime calculator to match your circumstances.
If you want to work out your overtime pay, there are a few different formulas for the different steps.
1. Calculate your hourly overtime
HOP = HRP x M
HOP = hourly overtime pay
HRP = hourly regular pay
M = the multiplier (often 1.5)
2. Calculate your overtime pay
OP = HOP x N
OP = overtime pay
N = number of hours in a month for overtime
3. Add it to your regular salary
TP = OP + RP
TP = total pay
RP = regular pay
You can calculate your overtime in five easy steps.
1. Know what your regular pay is. Let’s say you earn $15 an hour. Put that value into the calculator. If you don’t know your hourly rate, you can work it out with a salary to hourly wage calculator.
2. Identify the hours you usually work. Most people in a full-time job will work 40 hours. Add 160 hours for the month into the calculator.
3. Adjust the multiplier to suit. It’s 1.5 hours by default. Change it if your payment structure for overtime is different.
4. Enter the number of extra hours you worked for the month.
5. Let the overtime calculator work it out!
It will be a pleasant surprise seeing how much extra you will get for the month. What would you spend it on?
Overtime laws here in the United States dictate you must earn more for working overtime. Usually, your hourly limit is 40 hours, with compensation after that. These laws differ for each country.
The Fair Labor Standards Act in the USA says some jobs are exempt from overtime. Exempt employers don’t have to pay overtime. Some employees that would often receive overtime are non-exempt. There are lists of jobs and workers who are exempt in various industries.
Employees can’t pick or choose whether they get an exempt classification. The Fair Labor Standards Act determines it. Someone who works under the FLSA entitlements is non-exempt. Employees not covered by FLSA entitlements are exempt. Take an executive employee, for example.
If you qualify for an executive employee exemption, you must:
1. Be compensated with a salary of no less than $455 per week
2. Manage an enterprise, department, or subdivision as your primary duty
3. Direct work of two-plus full-time workers
4. Have some authority to hire or fire employees
For an administrative employee exemption, you must:
1. Be compensated with a salary or fee at no less than $455
2. Carry out duties of office work related to management or business operations
3. Use independent judgment and discretion in your daily job
It can seem like being a salary earner makes you exempt, but that’s not always the case. A salaried worker can still be non-exempt. The employee must perform all the qualifying duties above.
Even though several industries offer overtime as part of the working package, not all do. We have included some cases of jobs that may be overtime-exempt.
1. Elderly companions
2. Fisherpeople
3. Delivery drivers
4. Casual babysitters
5. Fruit and veg couriers
6. Newspaper delivery
7. Police offers (with stations featuring fewer than five officers)
8. Vessel seamen
9. Taxi drivers
10. Railroad workers
