Nurse Overtime Calculator: How to Check a Hospital Stub (2026)

Three Inputs Decide a Nurse's Overtime

Before you type anything, gather three things off the stub: every hour actually worked, every dollar earned for those hours (base plus night, weekend, charge and preceptor differentials), and whether your unit runs the 8/80 agreement. Those three inputs are what the healthcare overtime calculator needs, and they are the three places hospital payroll goes wrong.

Worked Example: A 46-Hour Week With a Night Differential

$44.00 base, $4.00 night differential on 24 hours, 46 hours worked:

| Line | Amount |

| --- | --- |

| 46 hours at $44.00 | $2,024.00 |

| Night differential (24 × $4.00) | $96.00 |

| Straight-time earnings | $2,120.00 |

| Regular rate ($2,120 ÷ 46) | $46.09 |

| Overtime premium (6 × $23.04) | $138.26 |

| Gross pay | $2,258.26 |

A system that pays the 6 overtime hours at 1.5 × $44.00 lands $18 low in one week — roughly $900 a year on a normal night rotation.

The 8/80 Week Changes the Answer

Hospitals and residential care facilities may agree in writing to pay overtime after 8 hours in a day or 80 hours in 14 days. Three 12-hour shifts is 36 hours — no weekly overtime — but under 8/80 each shift generates 4 overtime hours. Same schedule, very different check. Details sit in the 8/80 rule guide; only use the 8/80 setting if your facility actually has the agreement.

Auto-Deducted Lunches You Worked

Thirty minutes shaved off every shift is lawful only when you were fully relieved of duty. Charting at the station while covering call lights is hours worked. Add those half-hours back before you calculate — they often push a 39.5-hour week past 40. See meal and rest break pay rules.

Then Check Your State

California and Alaska add daily overtime, so a single 12-hour shift creates premium hours regardless of the week. Several states also limit mandatory overtime for nurses. Your rule is on your state overtime page.

If the Numbers Don't Match

Print one representative week, recalculate it here, and take both to payroll with the regular-rate line highlighted. Unpaid overtime carries a two-year lookback, three years if willful. Background reading: overtime pay for nurses.