FLSA overtime rules, explained

The Fair Labor Standards Act is the federal law behind almost every overtime paycheck in America. Here's what it actually says — without the legal fog.

The core rule

Covered employers must pay non-exempt employees at least 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. Your employer picks when it starts; it doesn't have to be Monday.

Overtime is counted per workweek — never averaged over two weeks, never banked (private employers can't give "comp time" instead of cash overtime).
There is no federal cap on how many hours an adult can be required to work, and no federal daily overtime or weekend premium.
The regular rate includes more than base pay: shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses count toward it.

Exempt vs non-exempt — the distinction that decides everything

Non-exempt employees get overtime. Exempt employees don't. The largest exempt groups are executive, administrative, and professional employees (the "white-collar" exemptions), who must generally pass both:

The salary basis test — paid a fixed salary not reduced for hours worked, and
The duties test — the job's actual duties must match the exemption (managing, professional judgment, learned profession, and so on).

Job titles don't decide it, and neither does being paid a salary by itself. A "manager" who spends the day doing the same work as hourly staff may be misclassified — one of the most common overtime disputes.

Who is covered

The FLSA covers employees of enterprises with at least $500,000 in annual volume, plus hospitals, schools, and government agencies — and individual employees engaged in interstate commerce, which courts read broadly. Most US workers are covered one way or the other. Some categories sit outside overtime entirely (for example, many agricultural workers and outside sales employees).

Where states go further

Rule	Federal (FLSA)	Notable states
Weekly overtime > 40 hrs	1.5× required	All states follow at minimum
Daily overtime	None	California (>8/day), Alaska, Colorado, Nevada (conditions)
Double time	Never required	California (>12/day, 7th day >8)
Seventh-day premium	None	California

When federal and state rules differ, the one more generous to the employee applies.

New in 2025–2028: FLSA-required overtime now also has a tax benefit — the federal "no tax on overtime" deduction covers the premium half of FLSA overtime only. State-law overtime premiums that aren't FLSA-required don't qualify. Full details in our deduction guide.

Check your own pay

Use the overtime calculator for federal rules, the California calculator for daily rules, or the weighted calculator if you work two rates. If your pay looks wrong, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division takes complaints confidentially and for free.