Methodology: State Overtime Calculator
What this calculator gives you
This calculator estimates weekly pay when a state overtime rule is more complicated than the federal "over 40 hours" rule. You enter a state, an hourly rate, and hours for each day of the week; the calculator returns regular pay, overtime pay, double-time pay, and total gross pay.
The value is the rule split. A 50-hour week can mean different things in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada, Alaska, or under the federal fallback.
The basic method
The calculator runs the week in two passes.
First, it checks each day for daily overtime, double-time, or 7th-day premiums. Then it applies weekly overtime to any regular hours left after the daily rules.
That order prevents the same hour from being counted twice. In California, for example, the calculator does not pay both daily overtime and weekly overtime on the same hour.
What is modeled
The dropdown includes the general overtime rules that differ meaningfully from the federal baseline:
| State or rule | What the calculator models |
|---|---|
| Federal | 1.5x after 40 hours in a workweek. |
| California | 1.5x after 8 hours in a day, 2x after 12, weekly overtime after 40 regular hours, and 7th-day premiums. |
| Alaska | 1.5x after 8 hours in a day and after 40 hours in a week. |
| Nevada | 1.5x after 8 hours in a day for workers below the wage cutoff, plus weekly overtime after 40. |
| Colorado | 1.5x after 12 hours in a day or 12 consecutive hours, plus weekly overtime after 40. |
| Kentucky | 1.5x for qualifying 7th-day work in a workweek. |
Many states follow the federal weekly-40 rule for general overtime. Use the federal option for those states unless a specific state or industry rule applies.
Worked examples
These examples use a $25 hourly rate.
| Rule | Schedule | Regular hours | 1.5x hours | 2x hours | Total gross pay | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | 5 days x 10h | 40h | 10h | 0h | $1,375 | 10 hours over 40. |
| California | 5 days x 10h | 40h | 10h | 0h | $1,375 | 2 daily OT hours each day. |
| California | 7 days x 8h | 40h | 16h | 0h | $1,600 | Weekly OT plus 7th-day premium. |
| California | 1 day x 14h | 8h | 4h | 2h | $450 | Daily OT plus double-time. |
| Colorado | 5 days x 13h | 40h | 25h | 0h | $1,938 | 12-hour daily threshold plus weekly OT. |
The federal and California 5x10 examples land on the same dollar total, but for different reasons. The California 7x8 example shows why the 7th-day rule matters even when no single day exceeds 8 hours.
Important assumptions
- The worker is non-exempt. Exempt-status decisions are legal classification questions, not calculator inputs.
- The worker has one flat hourly rate. If the week includes multiple rates, bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, or piece-rate pay, use a blended regular rate first.
- The displayed week is the employer's 7-day workweek. Choose the day your workweek starts, then enter the seven days in that order.
- Nevada daily overtime depends on whether the employee earns less than 1.5x the state minimum wage. The widget lets you choose below the cutoff or at/above the cutoff.
- The hours entered are already compensable work hours. The calculator does not decide whether travel time, waiting time, training, on-call time, or meal breaks count.
What is not modeled
- Industry-specific overtime rules. Some states have separate rules for manufacturing, hospitality, public works, minors, agriculture, and other sectors. Those require industry inputs most quick calculators cannot classify reliably.
- Blended regular rate. Multi-rate workers need weighted-average overtime math. Use the Blended Overtime Calculator before applying state-specific premium rules.
- Misclassification exposure. The calculator assumes non-exempt status. It does not evaluate whether a salaried worker was wrongly treated as exempt.
- Damages and penalties. It estimates underlying overtime pay, not FLSA liquidated damages, waiting-time penalties, wage-statement penalties, interest, attorney fees, or PAGA penalties.
- 7-day stretches across workweeks. The math uses the seven entered days as one workweek. It does not try to detect a 7-day consecutive stretch that crosses from one employer workweek into the next.
When this gets re-reviewed
This methodology is rechecked when a modeled state changes its overtime statute, a court changes the interpretation of a modeled rule, Nevada's wage threshold changes, or a new state adopts a general overtime rule that differs from the federal baseline.
Industry-specific carve-outs are reviewed separately. Adding those would require new inputs and a different user experience.
Data sources
- US Department of Labor — Overtime Pay — federal FLSA overtime baseline.
- California Labor Code §510 — daily overtime, double-time, and 7th-day premium.
- California DIR — Overtime FAQ — California daily-vs-weekly interpretation.
- Alaska Department of Labor — Wage and Hour Act — Alaska daily overtime.
- Nevada Labor Commissioner — Overtime — Nevada wage-conditional daily overtime.
- Colorado CDLE — Wage Protection — Colorado 12-hour rules.
- Kentucky KRS §337.050 — Kentucky 7th-day premium.
Companion guide: Overtime Rules by State.
How accurate is this?
For a single non-exempt hourly worker with one rate in one modeled state, this is a strong weekly gross-pay estimate. It is not a full wage-claim calculator.
Use it to check the overtime layer. Use payroll records, state guidance, and counsel for classification disputes, industry carve-outs, blended-rate weeks, or penalty exposure.
Frequently asked questions
How does the calculator handle daily vs weekly overtime?
It applies daily OT first, then weekly OT to anything left over at the regular (1×) rate. California's canonical rule: "the greater of daily or weekly OT, but never both for the same hour." If 12 hours on Monday already pushed 4 hours into daily OT, those 4 hours don't also count toward the weekly 40-hour threshold — they're already overtime. Only hours STILL at the regular rate after the daily pass get re-bucketed when the weekly total exceeds 40. The same rule applies in Alaska and in Nevada when the employee is below the wage cutoff.
How is the 7th consecutive day determined?
Choose the day your employer workweek starts, then enter the seven days in that order. If all 7 days have non-zero hours, the LAST entered day is treated as the 7th consecutive day. This is the conservative reading of the California rule, which is keyed to the employer's defined workweek rather than a fixed Monday-to-Sunday calendar.
Why does the 7th day calculation override daily OT?
Because the statute says so. Labor Code §510 provides that the 7th-consecutive-day rule applies to ALL hours worked that day — 1.5× for the first 8 hours, 2× after. There's no carve-out for shifts that would already trigger daily OT or double-time independently; the 7th-day rule supersedes the standard daily rules for that day. The calculator implements the override directly: on the 7th day, the daily OT/double-time logic is bypassed in favor of the 7th-day brackets.
How does Nevada wage-cutoff mode work?
Nevada's daily-overtime rule applies only to employees earning less than 1.5× the state minimum wage. At a $12.00 minimum wage, that cutoff is $18.00/hour. The Nevada control lets you choose below the cutoff or at/above the cutoff; at/above the cutoff uses weekly-only overtime.
Why are industry carve-outs (Oregon manufacturing, etc.) not modeled?
Industry-specific overtime rules require shift-type / sector inputs the calculator deliberately doesn't surface. Oregon manufacturing has a 10-hour daily threshold but only for certain manufacturing facilities; Connecticut has a 9-hour rule for restaurants; Hawaii has an 8-hour rule for public works. Modeling these requires the user to identify their industry-specific applicability, which most casual users can't do at the point of using the calculator. The companion article documents them prose-style; the calculator focuses on general-population state rules.
About Clockspot
Clockspot helps small businesses track employee time and keep payroll-ready records. Used in all 50 states since 2007, we focus on getting time and pay right — including the wage-and-hour rules that shape both.
Clockspot helps employers track hours, workweeks, overtime premiums, and the payroll records behind each calculation. See how Clockspot tracks overtime.