Biweekly overtime calculator
The calculator is set to two weeks. Enter your hourly wage and the hours you worked in each week to see overtime and your paycheck before taxes.
Enter your hourly wage and the hours you worked to see your pay with overtime.
Pay breakdown, before taxes
| Type of hours | Hours | Rate | Pay |
|---|
Each line is rounded to the cent. Overtime hours are paid at the regular rate times the multiplier.
How it’s calculated
- Formula
total pay = rate × regular hours + rate × multiplier × overtime hours- With your numbers
—
An estimate of gross pay, before taxes
This is gross pay, before federal and state income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and other deductions. Your employer’s payroll may round, define the workweek, or count hours differently, and your contract or state law may give you more than the federal rule. This is not legal, tax, or financial advice.The rules this uses
Federal (FLSA). Covered employees get overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek, at not less than time and one-half their regular rate. A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour days, and hours are not averaged over two or more weeks. That is why the two-week mode counts each week on its own.
California. Hours over 8 in a workday, up to 12, are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate. Hours over 12 are paid at double. On the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5 times and the rest at double. Hours over 40 in the week are overtime too.
Who is exempt. Many salaried executive, administrative, and professional employees are exempt from overtime, but a salary alone does not make you exempt: you also have to meet a duties test. The minimum salary in the Department of Labor’s fact sheet is $684 a week ($35,568 a year). A salaried employee who is not exempt is owed overtime; use the weekly salary option.
Other states. Some states and employers add their own overtime rules. This calculator only applies the federal rule and California’s daily rule, so check your state labor department for others.
Verified on October 8, 2026. Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Fact Sheet #23; California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement; U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Fact Sheet #17A (revised September 2019).
Federal deduction for overtime pay
For tax years 2025 through 2028, the IRS lets you deduct qualified overtime pay, but only the part above your regular rate, such as the “half” in time and a half. The most you can deduct in a year is $12,500 ($25,000 on a joint return), and the deduction phases out for modified adjusted gross income over $150,000 ($300,000 on a joint return). The calculator shows that premium part of your federal overtime pay as information only: it does not work out your tax.
Verified on October 8, 2026. Source: Internal Revenue Service: tax deductions for working Americans and seniors.
How to use it
- Choose one week, two weeks, or California daily, and whether you are paid by the hour or a weekly salary.
- Enter your hourly wage (or your weekly salary and the hours it covers).
- Enter the hours you worked in the week, or in each day for California.
- Pick time and a half (1.5×) or double time (2×) for the hours over 40.
- Read your regular pay, overtime pay, and total, with the formula, and copy the result or a link.
Frequently asked questions
How is overtime calculated on a biweekly paycheck?
Each workweek is figured on its own. Hours over 40 in either week are overtime, even if the other week is short.
Can my employer average 80 hours over two weeks?
Not for most employees. The Department of Labor says averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted, so 50 and 30 hours means 10 overtime hours.
Why two weeks are two calculations
A biweekly paycheck covers two workweeks, but overtime is counted for each one. The Department of Labor says averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted: a week of 50 hours has 10 overtime hours even if the next week has 30.
Biweekly pay at $20 an hour
| Hours (week 1 and week 2) | Total hours | Overtime hours | Week 1 | Week 2 | Paycheck |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 and 40 | 80 | 0 | $800 | $800 | $1,600 |
| 45 and 35 | 80 | 5 | $950 | $700 | $1,650 |
| 50 and 30 | 80 | 10 | $1,100 | $600 | $1,700 |
| 50 and 40 | 90 | 10 | $1,100 | $800 | $1,900 |
| 45 and 45 | 90 | 10 | $950 | $950 | $1,900 |
| 60 and 20 | 80 | 20 | $1,400 | $400 | $1,800 |
| 55 and 55 | 110 | 30 | $1,250 | $1,250 | $2,500 |
The first row shows 80 hours with no overtime. The third row has the same 80 hours but pays $100 more, because 10 of them are overtime.
Biweekly versus semimonthly
Biweekly means every two weeks, 26 paychecks a year. Semimonthly means twice a month, 24 paychecks. Overtime still follows the workweek, so a semimonthly paycheck that covers 15 days can include a partial week. For a yearly view, use the hourly to salary calculator, or enter each week in the overtime calculator.
Figures are gross pay before taxes. Your employer’s workweek, rounding, and any state rules can change the result, and this is not legal or tax advice.
Updated on October 8, 2026