How to use this hourly pay calculator
- Choose the pay period: one day, one week or two weeks. For two weeks, enter each week's hours separately.
- Type the hours worked as a decimal (37.5) or hours and minutes (37:30), and your hourly pay rate.
- Leave overtime on if you are paid time and a half after 40 hours a week. For a single day, turn it on only if you get daily overtime after 8 hours.
- If part of your time earns a shift differential, enter those hours and the extra amount per hour. If you worked a holiday at a premium rate, enter the holiday hours and the multiplier.
- Read straight-time pay, the overtime premium, differential and holiday pay, and the total gross pay.
Don't know your total hours yet? Count them from your start and end times with the hours worked calculator or a full time card.
The gross pay formula
This gross pay calculator builds pay in four parts, the way a payroll department breaks down a check:
- Straight-time pay = all hours worked × hourly rate
- Shift differential = differential hours × extra amount per hour
- Overtime premium = overtime hours × 0.5 × regular rate
- Holiday premium = holiday hours × hourly rate × (multiplier − 1)
Straight-time pay already pays every overtime hour once, so the premium adds the extra half. Together they equal the familiar time and a half: overtime must be paid at no less than 1.5 times the regular rate (29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1)).
Shift differential calculator: why it changes overtime
A night or weekend differential is part of your regular rate, so it raises your overtime rate too (29 CFR 778.207(b)). When a week mixes hours at different rates, the regular rate is the weighted average: total straight-time earnings ÷ total hours (29 CFR 778.115).
Example: 45 hours at $20 with 20 of them on nights at $2 extra. The straight-time and differential pay are $900 + $40 = $940, so the regular rate is $940 ÷ 45 = $20.89. The 5 overtime hours earn a premium of $52.22 instead of $50.00, and gross pay is $992.22.
Holiday pay calculator
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not require pay for holidays you don't work, and holiday premiums are a matter of agreement between you and your employer (U.S. DOL: Vacation and Holiday Pay). Working on a holiday does not by itself create overtime either (U.S. Department of Labor: Overtime Pay). Many employers still pay holiday time and a half or double time, so pick the multiplier that matches your policy.
Holiday hours here are hours you worked, already included in the total, and they still count toward 40 for overtime. Some employers credit a holiday premium against overtime owed; this calculator adds both in full, so it can show a little more than such a policy pays.
Weekly and biweekly pay calculator
A weekly earnings figure is simple: hours × rate plus overtime for the hours over 40. For a biweekly paycheck, each workweek is figured on its own and the results are added, because overtime cannot be averaged across two weeks (29 CFR 778.104).
| Two-week hours at $20 | Overtime hours | Gross pay |
|---|---|---|
| 40 + 40 | 0 | $1,600.00 |
| 50 + 30 | 10 | $1,700.00 |
In the two-week view, differential and holiday hours are divided between the weeks in proportion to the hours in each week. If they all fell in one week, run that week on its own for an exact figure.
12-hour shift pay
For a single 12-hour shift at $22 an hour, straight time is $264.00. Federal law looks only at the weekly total, so that is all one day earns unless the week passes 40 hours. If your state or employer pays daily overtime after 8 hours, turn overtime on for the day: the last 4 hours earn time and a half, for $308.00. California also pays double time after 12 hours in a day (California Labor Code § 510); the overtime calculator applies those rules day by day.
Before taxes only
Every result is gross pay. Federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare and benefit deductions are not subtracted, so your take-home pay will be lower. To compare an hourly pay rate with a salary, use the hourly to salary calculator.
Results are estimates, not legal, tax or payroll advice. Your employer's policy, contract or state law may differ.