How this is calculated
weekly pay = rate × regular hours + rate × multiplier × overtime hours
Overtime pay is regular rate × multiplier × overtime hours. In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires non-exempt employees to receive at least 1.5× ('time and a half') for hours beyond 40 in a week; some states like California add daily overtime and 2× tiers, and union contracts often go further.
The blended rate is the number worth watching: total weekly pay divided by total hours worked. Eight overtime hours at time-and-a-half lift a $20 base to a $21.67 blended rate — real money, but less dramatic than 'time and a half' sounds, because most of your hours still pay the base rate.
The yearly projection assumes the same overtime every week, which is optimistic for most jobs — overtime tends to come in bursts. It's still useful as a ceiling when deciding whether sustained overtime beats finding a higher base rate: a job paying $23 straight time beats $20 plus occasional overtime for most schedules.
Frequently asked questions
Who legally gets overtime in the US?
Non-exempt employees — generally hourly workers. Salaried employees above a duties-and-salary threshold are exempt. Misclassification is a common wage dispute; if you're salaried but doing hourly-style work near the threshold, it's worth checking the current rules.
Is overtime taxed more?
A persistent myth. Overtime is taxed the same as regular income — a bigger paycheck may have more tax withheld temporarily, but your year-end tax depends only on total income, and any over-withholding comes back at refund time.
What's double time?
2× the regular rate, common for holidays, seventh consecutive days or 12+ hour days under some state laws and contracts. Set the multiplier to 2 to model it.