What Is Time and a Half?
Last updated June 11, 2026
Time and a half is a pay rate equal to 1.5 times your regular hourly rate. Under federal law, employers must pay it to non-exempt employees for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. At $20 an hour, time and a half is $30 an hour.
If you work overtime in the United States, time and a half is almost certainly the rate you should be paid for those extra hours. The term sounds informal, but it points to a specific number set by federal law, and getting it wrong on a paycheck adds up quickly. This page explains what the rate means, when it applies, and how to work it out.
What time and a half means
Time and a half means you earn your regular hourly rate plus half of that rate again for each qualifying hour. Put another way, the multiplier is 1.5. If your regular rate is $18 an hour, time and a half is $27 an hour. If it is $24, time and a half is $36. The "half" is the extra premium on top of the wage you would normally earn.
When federal law requires it
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires time and a half for non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a single workweek. The trigger is the total hours in the workweek — not the day of the week, not the time of day, and not the length of any one shift.
A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour days). Your employer defines when it starts. Hours over 40 inside that window earn the premium; hours at or below 40 do not. You can read the federal rules directly at the U.S. Department of Labor overtime page.
How to calculate time and a half
To calculate time and a half, follow four steps:
- Find your regular hourly rate (for most hourly workers, this is your normal wage).
- Multiply the regular rate by 1.5 to get the time-and-a-half (overtime) rate.
- Multiply that overtime rate by the number of hours you worked over 40 in the week.
- Add the result to your regular pay for the first 40 hours to get the gross total.
In short: overtime rate = regular rate × 1.5, and weekly gross = (40 × regular rate) + (overtime hours × overtime rate).
Time and a half rates for common hourly wages
At a glance, here is time and a half for common hourly rates, plus the overtime pay it adds for 5 hours of overtime in a week. The math is always the regular rate × 1.5.
| Regular rate | Time and a half | Overtime pay for 5 OT hours |
|---|---|---|
| $12.00 | $18.00 | $90.00 |
| $13.00 | $19.50 | $97.50 |
| $14.00 | $21.00 | $105.00 |
| $15.00 | $22.50 | $112.50 |
| $16.00 | $24.00 | $120.00 |
| $17.00 | $25.50 | $127.50 |
| $18.00 | $27.00 | $135.00 |
| $19.00 | $28.50 | $142.50 |
| $20.00 | $30.00 | $150.00 |
| $22.00 | $33.00 | $165.00 |
| $25.00 | $37.50 | $187.50 |
| $30.00 | $45.00 | $225.00 |
| $35.00 | $52.50 | $262.50 |
For any rate not listed, multiply it by 1.5. The overtime pay calculator does this for your exact rate and hours.
A worked example
Say you earn $20 an hour and work 46 hours in one workweek. Here are the steps:
- Regular pay: 40 hours × $20 = $800.
- Overtime rate: $20 × 1.5 = $30 an hour.
- Overtime pay: 6 hours over 40 × $30 = $180.
- Weekly gross: $800 + $180 = $980.
Without the time-and-a-half premium, those 6 extra hours would have paid only $120 (6 × $20). The premium adds $60 for the week.
The "regular rate" is not always the base wage
For a straight hourly worker with no extra pay, the regular rate equals the hourly wage — $20 an hour means a $20 regular rate. But the FLSA defines the regular rate more broadly. It folds in most non-discretionary pay, such as shift differentials, nondiscretionary bonuses, and commissions, spread across the hours worked. When those extras exist, the regular rate is higher than the base wage, which makes the time-and-a-half rate higher too. Only the base-wage case is as simple as multiplying by 1.5 directly.
Common misconceptions
Federal law attaches no automatic premium to weekends, nights, or holidays. Working a Saturday, a graveyard shift, or Thanksgiving does not by itself trigger time and a half. The only federal trigger is crossing 40 hours in the workweek. A 12-hour Tuesday is not overtime on its own if the week still totals 40 or fewer hours.
One aside: some states add their own daily overtime rules that can require time and a half before 40 weekly hours are reached. Those are state laws layered on top of the federal floor; this page covers the federal rule only.
Frequently asked questions
Is time and a half always 1.5 times pay?
Under federal law, yes — the FLSA overtime multiplier is 1.5 times the regular rate. Some employers or union contracts voluntarily pay double time in certain situations, but federal law itself requires only time and a half for hours over 40.
Do I get time and a half for working over 8 hours in a day?
Not under federal law. The federal trigger is more than 40 hours in the workweek, not more than 8 in a day. A few states do have daily overtime rules, so check your state if you regularly work long single shifts.
Does salary mean I never get time and a half?
No. Being paid a salary does not automatically make you exempt. Whether you qualify for overtime depends on your duties and pay level under FLSA exemption tests, not on whether you are paid hourly or salaried. See exempt vs. non-exempt employees.
Related tools and guides
- Overtime Pay Calculator — enter your hours and rate to see regular pay, overtime pay, and weekly gross worked out automatically.
- Time Card Calculator — add up daily clock-in and clock-out times across a week, with breaks, to find total hours before applying overtime.
- Federal Overtime Basics — a fuller walkthrough of the FLSA rules, who counts as non-exempt, and how the workweek is defined.