Overtime Pay (1.5x & 2x Double-Time) & Shift Wage Calculator

Overtime & Hourly Wage Calculator 2026: Know Exactly What Your Time Is Worth

Your boss asks you to stay two extra hours. "It is only two hours," they say. But those two hours at time-and-a-half on a $25/hour wage are $75 — and if you do it three times a week, that is $900 a month, $10,800 a year. Most hourly workers have no idea what their overtime is actually worth, which is exactly why wage theft is a $50 billion annual problem in the US alone — more than all robberies combined. An overtime calculator tells you what each extra hour earns, so you can spot a short paycheck in seconds.

The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the federal baseline: non-exempt employees earn 1.5× their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Some states go further — California requires 1.5× over 8 hours in a day and 2× over 12 hours; a few mandate double-time on the seventh consecutive workday. "Regular rate" includes more than base pay: shift differentials, non-discretionary bonuses, and commissions all factor in, which means your overtime rate is often higher than 1.5 × your posted hourly wage. Employers who calculate on base pay alone are underpaying you.

Salaried workers get confused here, and employers exploit the confusion. Being salaried does not automatically make you exempt — exemption depends on duties and a salary threshold ($43,888/year federally as of recent rules, higher in some states). Millions of "assistant managers" earning $40,000 while working 55-hour weeks are legally entitled to overtime and do not know it. Convert your salary to hourly (annual ÷ 2,080), multiply by 1.5 for overtime hours, and compare against what you actually receive. The gap is your raise negotiation — or your labor board complaint.

The hours themselves deserve scrutiny. "Off the clock" work — answering emails at night, pre-shift setup, post-shift closing — is compensable work time under federal law, full stop. So are short breaks (under 20 minutes) and mandatory training. Misclassification as an independent contractor is the other epidemic: if the company controls your schedule, provides your tools, and you work only for them, you are likely an employee owed overtime regardless of what the 1099 says. The Department of Labor's economic reality test, not your job title, decides.

Track everything yourself, because payroll errors are never in your favor. Log start/end times daily (a notes app beats memory), screenshot schedules, save pay stubs, and run the calculator each payday: hours × rate + overtime × 1.5× should equal gross pay within rounding. Discrepancies of $20+ deserve a question; patterns deserve documentation. Most states give you 2–3 years to claim back wages, and willful violations can double the award. Your time has a price — the calculator just makes sure you are the one who sets it.