US Minimum Overtime Wage

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees in the US earn overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a single workweek.

Federal law sets overtime pay at 1.5 times an employee’s regular rate of pay. States may apply higher minimum wages, which directly affects overtime rates.

Overtime pay applies once an employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek.

The FLSA defines a workweek as a fixed and recurring period of 168 hours, made up of seven consecutive 24-hour periods.

Employers can choose when a workweek starts, and it does not need to match the calendar week.

In some cases, employers may offer compensatory time off, often called “comp time,” instead of overtime pay.

This practice follows strict federal rules and does not apply to all employees or workplaces. Employers must apply comp time correctly to stay compliant.

No. Federal overtime rules do not allow employers to average hours across multiple workweeks.

Each workweek stands on its own, and overtime eligibility resets at the start of every new workweek.

State minimum wage laws influence overtime rates, which means overtime pay can vary across the US. States with higher minimum wages also have higher minimum overtime rates.

Changes to state minimum wages in 2026 directly affect the overtime rates shown in the poster.