Table of Contents
- How to Use This Weighted Overtime Calculator
- How the Weighted Average Rate Works
- Worked Example: Two Jobs in One Week
- Weighted Overtime vs. Time and a Half on One Rate
- The Alternative: Overtime on the Rate in Effect
- Common Mistakes to Avoid
- FAQs
Plenty of people do two different jobs for the same employer in the same week — days on one task at one hourly rate, then evenings or weekends on another task at a different rate. When that week runs past 40 hours, overtime is due, but which rate does the overtime use? Under US federal rules, the answer is usually a weighted average of the two rates, often called a blended rate. Getting it wrong underpays or overpays the employee. Use the weighted overtime calculator at the top of this page to work it out properly: add a row for each rate, enter the hours worked at that rate, and it will find your regular rate, overtime premium and total pay for the week.
Weighted Overtime Calculator
How to Use This Weighted Overtime Calculator
Start with the two rows already on the weighted overtime calculator, and use the "Add another rate" button if the week involved three, four or five different rates. The calculator allows up to five rows, and rows can be removed again if you add one by mistake.
For each row, enter the hourly straight-time rate and the exact hours worked at that rate in the single workweek. Add up your hours carefully before you start — the method depends on the total for the week, not on any one job on its own. Avoid rounding hours up or down at this stage, because small rounding differences flow through into the average rate.
The results then show six figures. Total hours and total straight-time earnings come first. Next is the weighted average regular rate, shown to two decimal places while the calculator keeps full precision behind the scenes. Finally you will see the overtime hours (everything over 40), the overtime premium owed on those hours, and the total pay for the week. If the total comes to 40 hours or fewer, the premium is correctly shown as zero.
If instead you work at one single rate all week, a plain time and a half calculator is the simpler tool for that job.
How the Weighted Average Rate Works
The method is set out in the federal regulation 29 CFR 778.115. When an employee works at two or more different straight-time rates in one workweek, the regular rate for that week is the total straight-time earnings from all the rates divided by the total hours worked at all the jobs.
That one blended rate then drives the overtime calculation. Overtime hours are the total hours over 40 in the workweek. Here is the part people most often miss: because the straight-time earnings figure already pays the employee for every hour worked, including the overtime hours, the employee is not owed a full extra time-and-a-half rate on top. Instead, the extra overtime premium owed is half the regular rate — 0.5 × the weighted average rate — for each overtime hour.
So the whole method fits into three steps:
| Step | Calculation | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Add up (rate × hours) for every job | Total straight-time earnings |
| 2 | Straight-time earnings ÷ total hours | Weighted average regular rate |
| 3 | 0.5 × regular rate × hours over 40 | Extra overtime premium |
Total pay is then the straight-time earnings plus that premium. The US Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #23 on overtime pay explains the same requirement in its guidance for employers and employees.
Notice what this method does not do. It does not apply overtime only to the hours worked at the higher rate, and it does not simply average the two hourly rates by adding them and dividing by two. The average is weighted by hours, so a rate you worked at for 40 hours pulls the result far more strongly than a rate you touched for only a few hours.
Worked Example: Two Jobs in One Week
Here is a complete example using round numbers, which you can check in the weighted overtime calculator at the top of this page. An employee works 40 hours at $17 per hour in their main job, and then helps out for 10 more hours at $12 per hour in a second role during the same workweek.
First, work out the straight-time earnings for each job. The main job pays 40 × $17 = $680. The second job pays 10 × $12 = $120. Together, total straight-time earnings are $800, and total hours are 50.
Next, divide $800 by 50 hours. The weighted average regular rate is exactly $16.00 per hour — closer to the $17 rate, as you would expect, because most of the week was worked at that rate.
The overtime hours are 50 − 40 = 10. The premium is 0.5 × $16.00 × 10 = $80.00. Total pay for the week is therefore $800 + $80 = $880.00.
| Item | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Main job earnings | 40 hrs × $17 | $680.00 |
| Second job earnings | 10 hrs × $12 | $120.00 |
| Total straight-time earnings | $680 + $120 | $800.00 |
| Total hours | 40 + 10 | 50 |
| Weighted average regular rate | $800 ÷ 50 | $16.00 |
| Overtime hours | 50 − 40 | 10 |
| Overtime premium | 0.5 × $16.00 × 10 | $80.00 |
| Total pay | $800 + $80 | $880.00 |
It also helps to see a week with no overtime. If the same employee worked 30 hours at $15 and 8 hours at $18, earnings would be $450 + $144 = $594 over 38 hours. The regular rate would be $15.63, but with no hours over 40 there is no premium, and total pay is simply the $594 already earned.
Weighted Overtime vs. Time and a Half on One Rate
With a single rate, overtime is easy: hours over 40 are paid at one and a half times that rate, and our overtime calculator handles that case. The weighted method exists because a single "one and a half times" figure cannot be picked fairly when two rates are involved.
In the example above, paying time and a half on the $17 rate for all 10 extra hours would overstate the premium, because those extra hours were actually worked at the $12 job. Paying it on the $12 rate would understate it, because the employee's week as a whole was mostly higher-paid work. The blended rate of $16.00 lands where the week's actual earnings point, which is exactly why the regulation uses it.
| Situation | Overtime basis |
|---|---|
| One rate all week | 1.5 × that single rate for hours over 40 |
| Two or more rates in the week | Weighted average rate, plus a 0.5 premium per overtime hour |
| 40 hours or fewer in total | No overtime premium due |
You may also want to see how overtime pay is treated for tax purposes; our guide to the no tax on overtime calculator covers that separate question.
The Alternative: Overtime on the Rate in Effect
The weighted average is the default method, but it is not the only one the regulations allow. Under 29 CFR 778.415 to 778.419, an employer and employee can agree in advance — before the work is performed — that overtime hours will be paid at one and a half times the rate in effect for the type of work being done during those overtime hours.
Two conditions matter here. The agreement must genuinely be made beforehand, not chosen afterwards because it produces a cheaper result for that week. And the rate used must be the rate for the job actually performed in the overtime hours, with the hours and the work properly recorded. If there is no such advance agreement, the weighted average method in 778.115 is the one to use.
Employers normally put this agreement in writing and apply it consistently. If your employer uses this method, ask which agreement is in place and check the overtime hours against the rate for the work done at the time.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The most common error is paying a full extra time-and-a-half rate on top of straight-time earnings that already cover every hour — that double-counts the straight-time part. The premium is the extra half only.
A second mistake is averaging the rates without weighting them by hours. With 40 hours at $17 and 10 hours at $12, a simple average would give $14.50, well below the correct $16.00, and the employee would be underpaid. A third is splitting the week by job and giving each job its own 40-hour threshold; the overtime threshold applies to the total hours for the one employer in the workweek. Finally, watch out for bonuses or shift differentials that may also count toward earnings in a real payroll — this weighted overtime calculator covers hourly rates, so check a full payroll calculation against the Department of Labor guidance if other payments are involved.
FAQs
What is a weighted average regular rate?
It is the regular rate used for overtime when you work at two or more hourly rates in one workweek. Add together everything you earned at straight time across all the jobs, then divide by the total hours you worked. That blended figure is your regular rate for the week.
Why is the overtime premium only half the regular rate?
Because your straight-time earnings already pay you for every hour worked, including the hours over 40. Overtime law requires at least one and a half times the regular rate for those hours, so the extra amount still owed is the additional half — 0.5 × the regular rate for each overtime hour.
Does overtime start after 40 hours at each job, or 40 hours in total?
In total. The 40-hour threshold applies to all hours worked for the same employer in the workweek combined, not separately job by job. Two part-roles of 25 hours each make a 50-hour week, with 10 overtime hours.
What if my total hours are 40 or fewer?
Then no overtime premium is due for that week, whatever the mix of rates. Your pay is simply your straight-time earnings at each rate. In the calculator, the overtime hours and premium will show as zero.
Can my employer use the rate in effect instead of the weighted average?
Yes, but only under an agreement made in advance, before the work is done, as allowed by 29 CFR 778.415 to 778.419. Overtime hours are then paid at one and a half times the rate for the work being performed during those hours. Without that prior agreement, the weighted average method applies.
Does this calculator handle bonuses and shift differentials?
No. It covers weeks paid purely at hourly straight-time rates, which is the most common two-rate situation. Non-discretionary bonuses and some other payments can also count toward the regular rate in a full payroll calculation, so treat this result as the hourly-rate part of the answer and check the rest against official guidance.
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