Small-business overtime turns on coverage, status, and workweek math; Everhour keeps approved hours ready for review.
Calculate regular and overtime earnings based on your hours and rate. Supports standard time-and-a-half and double-time multipliers.
Total hours including overtime
Typically 40h/week
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For a small business, the calculation answers how much overtime pay is due when a covered nonexempt employee works more than 40 hours in one fixed FLSA workweek. The federal baseline uses hours actually worked, the employee's regular rate, and an overtime rate of at least 1.5 times that regular rate.
Small-business status alone does not remove FLSA obligations. Enterprise coverage generally applies at $500,000 or more in annual gross sales or business done, and individual employees can also be covered through interstate-commerce work. More protective state rules, contracts, or policies can require a greater benefit.
Start with a fixed workweek: seven consecutive 24-hour periods, or 168 hours total. Count hours actually worked in that workweek, not a two-week average. Under the FLSA federal baseline, covered nonexempt employees receive regular pay through 40 hours and overtime pay for hours worked over 40.
Example: a covered nonexempt employee at a small retail shop works 48 hours in one fixed FLSA workweek at a $24.50 regular hourly rate. Regular pay is 40 x $24.50 = $980.00. Overtime hours are 8, and the overtime rate is $24.50 x 1.5 = $36.75. Overtime pay is 8 x $36.75 = $294.00, so gross pay is $1,274.00.
The most common small-business mistake is treating a job title, salary, or part-time schedule as the overtime answer. Executive, administrative, and professional exemptions generally require both the applicable duties test and salary or fee pay of at least $684 per week. Certain computer employees can meet the pay test with $684 per week or $27.63 per hour, plus the required duties test.
Regular rate errors also change the result. The regular rate is includable workweek pay divided by hours actually worked. If an employee works at two or more straight-time rates in one workweek, the default regular rate is a weighted average across all covered earnings and hours. Restrictive on-call time can also count as hours worked when the employee cannot use the time effectively for personal purposes.
A one-off calculator is enough when you need to check a single workweek, one hourly rate, and a clear covered nonexempt status. It also works for quick owner review before approving payroll, as long as the hours, rate, and workweek are already reliable.
A managed workflow is the better fit when managers approve time, employees switch roles or rates, on-call time needs review, or payroll needs a clean handoff. Everhour Time Tracking captures task and project hours through timers or manual entries, then feeds timesheets and payroll review with approval controls, reminders, locked periods, and timer rules.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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No. The FLSA does not provide an overtime exemption simply because an employer is a small business. Covered nonexempt employees remain due overtime under the federal rule after 40 hours worked in a fixed workweek. Coverage can come from enterprise coverage, generally at $500,000 in annual gross volume, or from individual interstate-commerce work.
No. Under the FLSA federal baseline, each fixed 168-hour workweek stands alone. A small business cannot average a 50-hour week with a 30-hour week to avoid overtime for the first week. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime for hours worked over 40 in the workweek where those hours occurred.
When an employee works at two or more straight-time rates in one workweek, the default regular rate is the weighted average. Add the straight-time earnings from all rates, divide by total hours actually worked, and use that regular rate to calculate overtime. A single lower job rate should not be used for all overtime hours.
No. Salary by itself does not make an employee exempt. Executive, administrative, and professional exemptions generally require the applicable duties test plus salary or fee pay of at least $684 per week. Job titles alone do not determine exempt status, and a salaried nonexempt employee can still be due overtime.
No federal premium applies merely because work happens on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest. Under the FLSA federal baseline, the trigger is hours worked over 40 in the fixed workweek. Holiday or vacation pay for time not worked is generally controlled by agreement, policy, contract, or state law.
Everhour Time Tracking lets employees record task and project hours with live timers or manual entries, then routes time into timesheets for review. Admins can use approvals, reminders, locked periods, and timer rules so payroll review starts from controlled time records instead of scattered notes.
Track work time with Everhour, review submitted timesheets, lock approved periods, and hand clean totals to payroll with fewer manual corrections and clearer small-business overtime records.
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