Overtime questions rarely begin with a clean legal category. A worker may notice that a paycheck feels low, see an unfamiliar earnings code, or wonder why a holiday shift paid the regular rate. Payroll teams may need to rebuild a week that includes two hourly rates, a nondiscretionary bonus, a shift differential, or a salary arrangement. This index organizes those starting points into focused guides. Each guide explains the governing assumption, works through actual numbers, and links to a calculator or checklist that can reproduce the result.
Start with the foundations when you need the federal 40-hour rule, the meaning of time and a half, or a reliable weekly formula. Use the payroll-review guides when the regular rate includes more than a base wage or when the pay stub separates straight time from the additional overtime premium. State and holiday guides handle a different source of confusion: a calendar date, daily threshold, employer policy, or union agreement can change the result even when the multiplication itself remains simple.
These articles provide estimates and record-review methods, not legal advice or a decision about an individual claim. The current employer workweek, actual duties, state where the work occurred, written pay policy, collective bargaining agreement, and complete earnings record can all matter. Keep the schedule, timecard, pay stub, bonus terms, and written payroll response together. When an apparent statutory violation remains unresolved, use the linked Department of Labor or state-agency source instead of relying on an undated search snippet.