Time and a Half for $18 an Hour — Instant Answer & Overtime Calculator

Time and a half for an $18 hourly wage is $27.00 per overtime hour. Multiply the regular rate by 1.5: $18 × 1.5 = $27. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, most covered non-exempt employees earn that rate for hours worked over 40 in an employer-defined workweek. The first 40 hours remain at $18, so a 45-hour week pays $720 in regular wages plus $135 in overtime wages, or $855 gross. State law, a union agreement, or an employer policy may provide a more generous result. California, for example, can trigger overtime from daily hours and can require double time in longer-day situations. Also remember that the legal regular rate can include certain non-discretionary bonuses and shift differentials, not only the base number printed beside your job title. Use $27 as the clean starting answer, then compare your timecard, pay stub, and applicable state rules before treating it as the final payroll amount.

The overtime rate is $27.00 per qualifying hour when the regular rate is $18. The amount on the paycheck depends on overtime hours: one hour adds $27, five add $135, eight add $216, and ten add $270 before taxes and deductions. These figures describe the full overtime wage, not only the extra premium. The premium above normal pay is $9 per overtime hour because the worker would have earned $18 for that hour at straight time. For a federal 45-hour week, regular pay is $720 and overtime pay is $135, producing an $855 gross total. For a 50-hour week, overtime pay is $270 and total gross pay is $990. The calculation assumes the employee is non-exempt and that $18 is the correct legal regular rate. Production bonuses, commissions, or shift differentials can raise that regular rate, while California or another state rule may trigger overtime before the weekly total passes 40.

Working 45 hours at $18 per hour produces $855 gross under the federal weekly overtime rule. Separate the week into 40 regular hours and five overtime hours. Regular pay is 40 × $18, which equals $720. Time and a half is $27, so overtime pay is 5 × $27, which equals $135. Add $720 and $135 for the $855 weekly total. If that same schedule continues for 52 paid weeks, the annual gross estimate is $44,460. Your take-home amount will be lower after federal and state income tax, Social Security, Medicare, insurance, retirement contributions, and other deductions. The calculation can also change if your workweek contains daily overtime under state law, if your regular rate includes bonuses, or if some hours belong to a different employer. The calculator on this page lets you compare the 45-hour week with a second week instead of incorrectly averaging both weeks together. Keep the timecard with the pay stub when you audit it.

Bi-weekly payroll does not create an 80-hour overtime threshold. Federal overtime is calculated separately for each fixed seven-day workweek, even when both weeks appear on one paycheck. If Week 1 has 45 hours and Week 2 has 42 hours, Week 1 contains five overtime hours and Week 2 contains two. At $18 per hour, each week has up to $720 of regular pay; overtime is $135 in Week 1 and $54 in Week 2. The combined check is $1,629 gross. An employer cannot average the weeks and say that 87 total hours create only seven overtime hours because each week already has its own overtime trigger. The same rule matters when one week is short: 48 hours followed by 36 hours still creates eight overtime hours in the first week. Review the workweek dates on your timecard, not only the pay-period dates printed at the top of the wage statement.

Two jobs do not automatically combine for federal overtime. If the jobs are for genuinely separate employers, each employer normally counts only the hours worked for that business. Working 25 hours for a retailer and 25 hours for an unrelated warehouse produces 50 combined hours, but neither employer has more than 40, so neither job independently triggers weekly overtime. If both jobs are for the same company, two locations of the same chain, or employers that qualify as joint employers, the hours may need to be combined. Twenty hours at one location and 25 at another location under the same employer can create five overtime hours. When the positions pay different rates, payroll may use a weighted regular rate rather than simply applying the higher or lower rate. Ownership, scheduling authority, payroll control, and supervision all matter in joint-employer analysis. Keep separate records of hours, locations, supervisors, and pay rates, and contact the Department of Labor when the employer relationship is unclear.

Double time for an $18 hourly rate is $36.00 per hour because $18 × 2 equals $36. Federal law generally requires time and a half, not double time, for covered non-exempt employees after 40 hours in a workweek. Double time usually comes from a state rule, collective bargaining agreement, employment contract, or voluntary employer policy. California is the best-known example: many non-exempt employees earn double time after more than 12 hours in a workday and for certain hours on a seventh consecutive workday. Holiday work by itself does not create a federal double-time right, although an employer may promise it in a handbook or union agreement. Check which hours qualify before multiplying every overtime hour by two. If a shift includes regular time, time and a half, and double time, calculate each group separately. The page's $27 headline is the standard 1.5 multiplier; the $36 figure applies only when a valid double-time rule covers the hour.

A title such as supervisor, lead, coordinator, or assistant manager does not by itself remove overtime rights. FLSA exemptions depend on how the employee is paid and what the employee actually does. An executive exemption generally requires management as the primary duty, regular direction of at least two full-time employees or their equivalent, and meaningful authority or influence over hiring and firing, along with the applicable salary-basis requirement. A worker who spends most of the shift stocking, operating equipment, serving customers, or performing the same manual work as the team may still be non-exempt despite opening the store or assigning small tasks. The current federal salary threshold and related rules have changed through regulation and litigation, so verify the latest Department of Labor guidance rather than relying on an old handbook number. Keep notes about actual duties, time spent supervising, scheduling authority, and pay method. Misclassification questions turn on facts, not the label printed on a badge.

At 40 hours per week for 52 paid weeks, $18 per hour equals $37,440 in annual gross wages. Five overtime hours every week raise weekly gross pay to $855 and annual gross pay to about $44,460. Ten overtime hours each week produce $990 weekly and about $51,480 annually. Fifteen overtime hours produce $1,125 weekly and about $58,500 annually. These totals include the full $27 overtime wage, not only the extra $9 premium. They also assume the same schedule for all 52 weeks, with no unpaid leave, reduced hours, or seasonal shutdowns. Bi-weekly payroll does not change the annual math: a recurring 45-hour Week 1 and 42-hour Week 2 pattern produces $1,629 per two-week check and about $42,354 over 26 checks. Use annualized figures for planning, but compare them with actual workweek records because schedule changes, bonuses, state daily overtime, and deductions can materially change the final amount. Treat the annual figure as a planning estimate, not guaranteed income.