40-hour weekly overtime threshold (FLSA_WEEKLY_THRESHOLD = 40)
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/207
- Source (secondary)
- 29 CFR §778.115 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.115
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
Blended Overtime Calculator
Fact Check: Blended Overtime Calculator
Verified May 25, 2026How we fact-check
Summary
All 12 verifiable claims verified against Tier-1 sources (Cornell LII proxies of the U.S. Code + eCFR). The two modeled-data constants in the tool's math layer (FLSA_WEEKLY_THRESHOLD = 40 and FLSA_OT_PREMIUM_MULTIPLIER = 0.5) match the federal overtime statute and the §778.118 half-rate-top-up convention. The §778.115 / §778.117 / §778.118 / §778.211 / §778.419 quotations are exact; the §207(a)(1) / §207(g)(2) statutory excerpts are exact. The naive-comparison math (lowest-rate-as-basis and omitted-supplement) is algebraically derived from the same §778.115 weighted-average formula and produces correct underpayment deltas across the unit-test grid.
Claims — Modeled-data thresholds
2 claims
0.5× overtime-premium multiplier (FLSA_OT_PREMIUM_MULTIPLIER = 0.5)
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.118
- Source (secondary)
- 29 U.S.C. §207(a)(1) — "rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate" (the half-rate top-up when straight-time pay is counted separately)
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
The 0.5× formulation is mathematically equivalent to 1.5× when straight-time pay for OT hours is counted separately. The methodology § "Math derivation" explicitly documents this choice. The convention matches the §778.118 text ("extra compensation at one-half of that rate") verbatim and aligns with the sibling holiday-pay-calculator's convention.
Statutory / regulatory
9 claims
29 U.S.C. §207(a)(1) — overtime requires "longer than forty hours" at "not less than one and one-half times the regular rate"
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/207
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
29 U.S.C. §207(g)(2) — alternative "rate in effect" method for multi-rate work
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/207
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
29 CFR §778.115 — "regular rate for that week is the weighted average of such rates"
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.115
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
The regulation cross-references §§778.400 and 778.415-.421 for the §7(g)(2) alternative. The tool documents this cross-reference in the methodology page.
29 CFR §778.117 — "Commissions … are payments for hours worked and must be included in the regular rate"
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.117
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
The "regardless of the method, frequency, or regularity" language is the anti-evasion clause and is preserved in the tool's prose.
29 CFR §778.118 — commission paid weekly is "added to the employee's other earnings … and the total is divided by the total number of hours worked in the workweek to obtain the employee's regular hourly rate," with "extra compensation at one-half of that rate for each hour worked in excess of the applicable maximum hours standard"
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.118
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
This regulation is what anchors the 0.5× formulation. The methodology page quotes the "extra compensation at one-half of that rate" language explicitly to justify the formulation.
29 CFR §778.211(b) — discretionary bonus test requires retaining discretion over BOTH fact AND amount "until a time quite close to the end of the period"
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.211
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
Cross-applied verification from the holiday-pay-calc fact-check (2026-05-24).
29 CFR §778.211(c) — non-discretionary bonuses explicitly include those promised on hiring, from collective bargaining, attendance bonuses, production bonuses, quality bonuses, and continued-employment bonuses
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.211
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
Cross-applied verification from the holiday-pay-calc fact-check (2026-05-24).
29 U.S.C. §255(a) — FLSA back-pay statute of limitations is two years (three for willful violations)
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/255
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
The "longer windows under some state wage statutes" qualifier is intentionally soft — state-by-state SOL variation isn't enumerated in this tool's scope; the methodology mentions it to flag that the federal SOL is a floor, not a ceiling, for back-pay exposure.
29 CFR §778.419 — §7(g)(2) "rate in effect" method requires advance written agreement plus three additional conditions
- Source (primary)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.419
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
The methodology specifically calls out that the advance-agreement requirement is what makes §7(g)(2) narrow in practice.
Math / derivation
2 claims
omittedSupplement.underpayment = (supplement × otHours) / (2 × totalHours) for any otHours > 0
- Source (primary)
- Derivation in supporting research notes § "Math derivation"
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
The omitted-supplement naive computes OT premium against (straightTime / totalHours), and the correct premium against ((straightTime + supplement) / totalHours), each times 0.5 × otHours. The difference simplifies to (supplement × otHours) / (2 × totalHours). The unit test sweeps three independent cases (single-rate, two-rate, three-rate) and confirms the identity holds in each. The implementation and the simplified-form derivation in supporting research notes agree.
Lowest-rate-as-basis naive uses only rates of rows with hours > 0
- Source (primary)
- Tool implementation + unit tests for zero-hour rows
- Verified
- May 25, 2026
- Notes
A row with a low rate but 0 hours doesn't represent work actually performed. The §7(g)(2) "rate in effect" framing is keyed to rates the employee actually worked at; the naive comparison follows the same framing. Unit test confirms: a row with $5/h × 0h alongside a row with $25/h × 50h surfaces the lowest WORKED rate of $25 (not the $5 unused row).
Sources
11 unique sources cited across the report — click to audit any claim directly against its evidence.
- 1.https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/207
- 2.29 CFR §778.115 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.115
- 3.https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.118
- 4.29 U.S.C. §207(a)(1) — "rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate" (the half-rate top-up when straight-time pay is counted separately)
- 5.https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.115
- 6.https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.117
- 7.https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.211
- 8.https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/255
- 9.https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/778.419
- 10.Derivation in supporting research notes § "Math derivation"
- 11.Tool implementation + unit tests for zero-hour rows
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