Guide / breaks and pay

Breaks and weekly overtime

The break box subtracts minutes from elapsed time. Enter only time that should not count as work. From 08:00 to 17:00 is nine elapsed hours. Subtract a 60-minute unpaid meal and the row becomes 8:00 worked. If the meal was interrupted by work, the simple number may not reflect what should be paid; check the actual circumstances and applicable rules.

Which breaks belong in the box?

The US Department of Labor explains that short rest periods, usually 5 to 20 minutes, are generally compensable work time under the federal baseline. Bona fide meal periods are generally not work time when the worker is completely relieved of duty. This calculator cannot determine a break’s legal status; it follows the minutes you enter. See Fact Sheet #22.

A 43:30 week at $20 per hour

Suppose five eight-hour shifts add to 40:00, and a sixth shift adds 3:30. At the default threshold, the result is 40:00 regular and 3:30 overtime. A simple gross-pay estimate is 40 × $20 = $800, plus 3.5 × $30 = $105, for $905 total. The $30 overtime rate is 1.5 times the entered $20 rate.

Do not average separate weeks

Suppose one week has 38 hours and the next has 45 hours. Averaging them gives 41.5 hours per week, but that is not the basic federal overtime method. The second week has five hours above 40. Calculate each fixed workweek separately, even if both appear on one two-week pay statement. The Department of Labor describes the fixed workweek rule.