Weekly Overtime Earnings: What One Extra Week Really Pays (2026)

One Week, One Calculation

Overtime is not monthly, not per pay period, not averaged. It is measured in a fixed seven-day workweek, and each workweek stands alone.

That rule settles most disputes. A 46-hour week followed by a 34-hour week owes six hours of premium, even though the two-week total is 80 hours. An employer who averages them to avoid the premium is not applying a clever policy; they are underpaying.

Pricing the Week

Split at the threshold, multiply each block, add:

At $21 an hour for 47 hours — 40 regular hours pay $840, and 7 overtime hours at $31.50 pay $220.50. Gross: $1,060.50.

Only part of that overtime figure is the premium the law adds. Seven hours of straight time would have been $147, so the premium is $73.50. Seeing both numbers separately is the quickest way to tell whether a stub applied the multiplier or quietly paid straight time.

Your Effective Hourly Rate

Divide the week's gross by the hours worked. That $1,060.50 across 47 hours is about $22.56 an hour — your blended rate.

This is the number to use when comparing jobs:

| Offer | Hours | Gross week | Effective rate |

| --- | --- | --- | --- |

| $21/hr with 7 OT hrs | 47 | $1,060.50 | $22.56 |

| $24/hr flat | 40 | $960.00 | $24.00 |

| $19/hr with 12 OT hrs | 52 | $1,102.00 | $21.19 |

The overtime-heavy weeks gross more and pay less per hour of your life. Which matters more is your call — but make it with both numbers in front of you. The weekly overtime earnings calculator produces both.

When the Threshold Is Not 40

A contract can be more generous than the law but never less. Union agreements sometimes set overtime after 35 or 37.5 hours, and daily rules apply in several states. Set the threshold to match your own agreement rather than assuming 40.

Then Look at the Deposit

Gross is the promise; net is what arrives. A heavy overtime week is withheld harder because payroll projects it across the year, so the check feels smaller than the arithmetic suggested. Run the same week through the overtime paycheck calculator, and if you are unsure how many overtime hours your schedule produces at all, start with the overtime hours estimator.