How overtime pay works
Overtime is paid at a premium rate — usually time and a half (1.5 times your regular hourly rate) — for hours beyond a legal threshold. Some jurisdictions also require double time (2 times your rate) for very long days. Which hours count as overtime depends on where you work: some places use only a weekly limit, while others also have a daily limit.
United States
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. There's no federal daily overtime, and weekend work isn't automatically overtime. Several states go further. California requires 1.5× after 8 hours in a day and 2× after 12 hours in a day (plus special seventh-day rules), and Alaska requires 1.5× after 8 hours in a day for most employers. Colorado adds daily overtime after 12 hours. Many salaried employees are "exempt" from overtime if they meet duties tests and a salary threshold; the federal threshold is $684 per week, and several states set higher ones.
Canada
Overtime is set by each province and territory, and by the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated industries such as banking, airlines and telecom:
- Ontario: 1.5× after 44 hours a week (no daily overtime).
- Quebec: 1.5× after 40 hours a week.
- British Columbia: 1.5× after 8 hours a day and 2× after 12 hours a day, plus 1.5× after 40 hours a week.
- Alberta: 1.5× for hours over 8 in a day or over 44 in a week, whichever is greater.
- Manitoba, Saskatchewan and federally regulated employers: 1.5× after 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week.
Some provinces, such as New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, calculate overtime as 1.5 times the minimum wage rather than your regular wage, so they're not included in the menu above. Averaging agreements, banked time and industry-specific rules can also change how overtime is calculated.
Avoiding double counting
Where both daily and weekly limits apply, an hour already paid as daily overtime isn't counted again toward the weekly limit. The calculator applies daily overtime first, then counts the remaining regular hours toward the weekly threshold. For Alberta, it compares the daily and weekly overtime totals and uses the greater, as the province's rules require.
To see what you take home after tax, enter your total weekly pay in our paycheck calculator or Canada income tax calculator.
Worked example
A worker earning $25 an hour works 10 hours Monday to Thursday and 8 hours on Friday — 48 hours in total. Under U.S. federal rules, the 8 hours over 40 are paid at $37.50, for weekly pay of $1,300. In California, the 2 extra hours on each of the four 10-hour days are daily overtime (8 hours at time and a half), and the remaining 40 regular hours don't exceed the weekly limit, so pay is also $1,300. In Ontario, only the 4 hours over 44 earn overtime, so weekly pay is $1,250.
Frequently asked questions
What is time and a half for $20 an hour?
Is overtime after 8 hours a day?
How many hours before overtime in Ontario?
Are salaried employees paid overtime?
Sources & methodology
This calculator was last reviewed on November 2, 2026. Figures are based on the following official and primary sources:
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