How the two weeks are counted
Each day's hours are the clock-out time minus the clock-in time, minus any unpaid break. The days are then added up one workweek at a time, and overtime is worked out for each week before the two are put together.
These steps show the US federal rule. If you choose another rule, the tool uses that rule instead.
Overtime = week 1 hours over 40 + week 2 hours over 40
Pay = regular hours × rate + overtime hours × rate × 1.5
Under California rules, hours over 8 in a day and over 12 in a day are also counted, and the 7th day worked in a row in one workweek has its own rate. Alaska adds overtime for hours over 8 in a day. Both are applied inside each week, the same way as on the one-week time card calculator.
Worked example
A worker paid $20.00 an hour works 30 hours in the first week and 50 hours in the second. That is 80 hours, which averages 40 a week, but the second week still has 10 overtime hours.
| Week | Regular | Overtime | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1, 30 hours | 30 × $20.00 | 0 | $600.00 |
| Week 2, 50 hours | 40 × $20.00 | 10 × $30.00 | $1,100.00 |
| Pay period | 70 h | 10 h | $1,700.00 |
Averaging the two weeks would pay 80 × $20.00 = $1,600.00, which is $100.00 short. These are the example times loaded in the calculator above.
Why the weeks are not averaged
The Fair Labor Standards Act takes a single workweek as its standard and does not allow hours to be averaged over two or more weeks. The Department of Labor's rule says this holds whether you are paid daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly or on another basis, so being paid every two weeks does not change when overtime starts.
Paid twice a month instead? See semi-monthly vs biweekly pay: 24 or 26 paychecks, and how a workweek that crosses two pay periods is counted.
29 CFR 778.104.
Your workweek
A workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven days in a row. It does not have to match the calendar week and can start on any day, at any hour. Once your employer sets it, it stays fixed whatever hours you work.
- Start day: pick it in the calculator, or pick the first day's date and the start day follows.
- Start time: the calculator assumes the workweek starts at 12:00 AM. A night shift on the last day of week 1 is split at midnight, and the hours after midnight count in week 2.
- Breaks: enter only unpaid meal breaks. See what counts as hours worked.
29 CFR 778.105.
Questions
How many regular hours are in a biweekly pay period?
Under US federal rules, up to 80, and never more than 40 of them in one workweek. A pay period under 80 hours can still include overtime if one of its weeks went over 40.
I am paid twice a month, not every two weeks. Does this still work?
Yes, if you enter the two workweeks themselves. Overtime is still counted per workweek, but a twice-monthly pay period does not line up with workweeks, so one week can be split across two paychecks.
Do 7 days in a row across the two weeks trigger California's 7th-day rule?
No. California's rule is about the 7th day worked in one workweek. A run of 7 days that starts in week 1 and ends in week 2 is two partial runs, and the calculator treats it that way.
Sources
- 29 CFR 778.104, Each workweek stands alone (eCFR)
- 29 CFR 778.105, Determining the workweek (eCFR)
- 29 CFR Part 785, Hours Worked (eCFR)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: Overtime Pay
- California Labor Commissioner: Overtime FAQ
- Limits
- Not legal, tax or payroll advice. An estimate from the rules named above. See the Disclaimer.