Overtime pay rewards extra hours at a premium rate. Your overtime rate is the hourly rate times a multiplier — 1.5 for time-and-a-half, 2 for double-time — and overtime pay = OT rate × OT hours. Add it to your regular pay (rate × regular hours) for the total. This calculator also shows the effective hourly rate, your total pay spread across all the hours you worked.
Reviewed: June 20, 2026 · Author: Naveen P N, Founder — AI Calculator · Verified against: standard overtime pay arithmetic, recomputed in code. Check local labor law for the rules that apply.
The overtime formula
Regular hours are paid at your base rate; overtime hours earn a premium set by the multiplier. Time-and-a-half (1.5×) is the most common; some hours or holidays pay double-time (2×). Adding regular and overtime pay gives the gross total. The effective hourly rate — total divided by every hour worked — lands between the base and overtime rates, since only the overtime hours get the premium.
Worked example — $20/hour, 10 hours overtime
Scenario: $20/hour, 40 regular hours, 10 overtime hours at time-and-a-half.
Regular pay is $800, overtime pay is $300 (10 hours at the $30 overtime rate), so the total is $1,100 — an effective rate of $22/hour across all 50 hours. Bump the multiplier to 2× (double-time) and those 10 hours pay $400 instead, for a $1,200 total. The premium only applies to overtime hours, which is why the effective rate stays below it.
Frequently Asked Questions
OT rate = rate × multiplier; OT pay = OT rate × OT hours. $20 × 1.5 × 10 = $300. Add regular pay for the total.
1.5× your normal rate for overtime. $20 → $30/hr. Double-time (2×) is $40/hr.
US federal: usually past 40 in a week. Some states add daily overtime (e.g. California past 8/day). Check yours.
Total pay ÷ all hours. $1,100 ÷ 50 = $22/hr — between the base and overtime rates.
No — same tax as regular pay. Withholding may look higher on a big OT week, but the real rate isn't.