Time and a half means 1.5 times your regular hourly rate. If you earn $20 an hour, time and a half is $30 an hour. The formula is simple, but applying it correctly to actual paychecks involves several edge cases — bonuses, multiple rates, salaried employees, and state-specific rules. Here's how to do it right.
Time and a half = Regular hourly rate × 1.5
Examples:
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), non-exempt employees in the US must be paid time and a half for any hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Several states add daily overtime rules:
If you're salaried but non-exempt (earning under $43,888/year and not meeting duties test), you're still entitled to overtime — see exempt vs. non-exempt.
Sarah is a non-exempt employee earning $22/hour. Last week she worked 48 hours.
If your pay includes a non-discretionary bonus — meaning it's based on production, attendance, or performance metrics — the FLSA requires you to include the bonus when calculating the "regular rate" used for overtime.
Mike earns $20/hour and got a $200 production bonus for the week. He worked 50 hours.
Notice the bonus makes his effective overtime rate higher than just $20 × 1.5. The DOL settles millions in violations over employers excluding bonuses from regular rate.
Lisa earns a salary of $36,000/year ($692.31/week) but doesn't meet the FLSA duties test, so she's non-exempt. She regularly works 45 hours.
For salaried non-exempt workers, the calculation is "half-time" added on top of the salary, not the full time-and-a-half rate. This is because the salary already covers the straight-time portion of OT hours.
| Multiplier | Name | When required |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0× | Straight time | Normal hours |
| 1.5× | Time and a half | Federal OT (40+ hrs/wk), most state daily OT |
| 2.0× | Double time | California after 12 hrs/day or 8 hrs on 7th consecutive day; some union contracts |
| 2.5× or 3.0× | "Triple time" or premium | Some union contracts for holidays |
Under FLSA, no. Holiday pay is not federally required and is a matter of company policy. Many employers voluntarily pay 1.5× for working on Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., but it's not legally mandatory.
Unpaid meal breaks (30+ minutes where you're fully relieved of duty) don't count toward hours worked. Paid rest breaks (5–20 minutes) do count.
For private-sector employees, no. Comp time (compensatory time off) is only legal for public-sector employees under FLSA. If you work for a private company, they must pay cash overtime.
"Time and a half" is the total rate, not an addition. If your regular rate is $20, time and a half is $30 (not $20 + $30 = $50). This trips people up. The "half" portion ($10 in this example) is sometimes called the "overtime premium."
For real timesheets with multiple variables — daily OT thresholds, double-time, bonuses, multiple rates — use the Overtime Calculator or set up a full weekly timesheet in the Hours Calculator.
Published May 2026. Spot an error? Email contactus@calculatehours.net.