Overtime Pay Blog

How to turn clock-in and clock-out times into decimal payroll hours, handle overnight shifts, and avoid the 8.25 vs 8 hours 25 minutes mistake.

When a lunch break must be paid, why 15-minute breaks always are, what a missed meal costs in California, and how unpaid breaks delay your overtime.

Why Medicare tax has no wage cap, how the 0.9% surtax works above $200,000, and what an overtime week really costs you in 2026.

How the $184,500 Social Security wage base works in 2026, the paycheck where withholding stops, and how two jobs cause over-withholding.

Why Box 1 is lower than your salary, how Boxes 3 and 5 differ, and how to reconcile a 2026 W-2 against your final pay stub.

Compare 1099 and W-2 taxes in 2026: self-employment tax, quarterly estimates, lost overtime rights, and the rate a contract really needs.

How the seven 2026 federal brackets actually work, why your bracket is not your tax rate, and what overtime really does to your annual tax bill.

What the FICA lines on your paycheck mean in 2026 — the 6.2% wage base, 1.45% Medicare, the 0.9% surtax, and why 401(k) money does not reduce it.