Blended Overtime Calculator
Enter the hours and pay rate for each job you work in a week to get the FLSA weighted-average regular rate and the blended overtime pay you're owed.
Blended Overtime Calculator
Pay Rates This Week
Add a row for each rate you worked at this week. Leave a row blank to ignore it.
Overtime Threshold
Federal overtime starts after 40 hours per week. State daily rules (such as California's 8-hour day) work differently than a single weekly threshold.
Enter pay rates and hours to see your blended overtime results.
Gross pay before taxes, estimate only. Not tax or legal advice. Download the app to see your actual take-home pay.
Track Every Job's Hours and Rate
Working multiple rates is hard to track by hand. ClockWage44 logs shifts across unlimited jobs and works out overtime per job, then shows your pay after taxes.
How blended overtime works under the FLSA
When a non-exempt employee works at two or more different pay rates for the same employer in a single workweek, the Fair Labor Standards Act does not let you pick one rate for overtime. Under 29 CFR 778.115, the regular rate for that week is the weighted average of the rates: total straight-time earnings divided by total hours worked.
Because all the hours belong to one employer, they combine for the overtime test. If your hours from every rate add up past your threshold (40 hours federally), the hours over the line earn an overtime premium based on that weighted average, not on whichever rate you happened to work last.
How to calculate your blended overtime rate step by step
There are four steps:
1. Total straight-time pay. Multiply each rate by the hours worked at that rate, then add them up.
2. Total hours. Add up every hour worked across all rates.
3. Weighted-average regular rate. Divide total straight-time pay by total hours.
4. Overtime premium. For hours over the threshold, add 0.5 times the regular rate.
Here's how that plays out. Say you work 30 hours at $20/hr and 20 hours at $15/hr for one employer. Straight-time pay is (30 x $20) + (20 x $15) = $600 + $300 = $900. Total hours are 50. The regular rate is $900 / 50 = $18.00/hr. You worked 10 overtime hours (50 minus 40). The premium is 0.5 x $18.00 x 10 = $90. Total gross is $900 + $90 = $990.
0.5x premium vs 1.5x: why the math looks different
People expect overtime at 1.5x, so the half-time premium can look wrong. The reason is that your straight-time pay already counts every hour once, including the overtime hours. Overtime requires one and a half times the regular rate in total. Since you already have one times the rate baked into straight-time pay, you only need to add the remaining half (0.5x) on the overtime hours.
In the example above, the blended overtime rate is $18.00 x 1.5 = $27.00/hr. Ten overtime hours at $27.00 is $270. But $180 of that (10 hours x $18.00) is already in the $900 straight-time figure, so only the $90 premium gets added. Both ways of framing it reach the same $990 total.
State rules and exceptions
The federal threshold is 40 hours per week, but states can be stricter. California, for example, applies daily overtime after 8 hours in a day and double-time after 12, which is more involved than a single weekly threshold. Some states and union contracts also use a rate-in-effect written-agreement method instead of the weighted average. Lowering the threshold here can approximate some of these cases, but it does not capture every daily-overtime rule.
This calculator gives estimates for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or payroll advice. For a multi-job tracker that logs shifts and resolves overtime automatically, track every job's hours and rate in ClockWage44. You can also try the overtime calculator for a single-rate week or the decimal hours converter to turn hours and minutes into decimal hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about blended overtime calculator
What is a blended overtime rate?
A blended overtime rate is the weighted-average pay rate used to figure overtime when you work at two or more different hourly rates for the same employer in one workweek. Rather than picking one rate, the FLSA combines all your straight-time pay and divides it by total hours to get a single regular rate, then bases overtime on that average.
How do you calculate blended (weighted-average) overtime under the FLSA?
Add up your straight-time pay (each rate times the hours worked at that rate), then divide by total hours to get the weighted-average regular rate. Your overtime hours are the hours past your threshold, which is 40 federally. The premium owed is 0.5 times the regular rate times overtime hours, added on top of the straight-time pay you already earned.
Why is overtime paid at 0.5x the regular rate instead of 1.5x in this method?
Because straight-time pay already counts every hour once, including the overtime hours. Overtime requires one and a half times the regular rate in total, so you only need to add the remaining half-time (0.5x) premium on the overtime hours. The result works out to the same thing as paying 1.5x on those hours, just expressed as base pay plus a premium.
When does blended overtime apply if I work two jobs for the same employer?
It applies when one employer (or joint employers) has you doing two or more kinds of work at different nonovertime rates in the same workweek. All those hours combine for the overtime test. If you work for two genuinely separate, unrelated employers, the hours generally are not combined, and each job runs its own overtime calculation.
Does the blended rate use 40 hours, or can the threshold be different (e.g., California daily overtime)?
The federal FLSA threshold is 40 hours in a workweek, which is the default here. Some states use different rules. California, for example, counts overtime after 8 hours in a single day and after 40 in a week. You can lower the threshold in this calculator to model those situations, though state daily-overtime math can get more involved than a single weekly threshold.
Do bonuses, shift differentials, or tips change my regular rate?
They can. Nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials generally have to be folded into the regular rate, which raises it and therefore raises your overtime premium. Discretionary bonuses and certain other payments may be excluded. This calculator covers the multiple-hourly-rates case; it does not add bonuses or tip credits, so treat extra pay separately.
Is this calculator's result tax or legal advice?
No. This tool gives estimates for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or payroll advice. Overtime rules vary by state and situation, and your actual pay depends on your employer's records and classification. Check the FLSA, your state labor agency, or a qualified professional for guidance on your specific case.