A 12-hour shift pays your hourly rate times the hours you're paid for: $300 at $25 an hour. Under federal law, overtime depends on your hours across the whole workweek. California also pays overtime for long days.
The calculator multiplies your rate by your hours. It doesn't add overtime by itself, so you price overtime hours separately, as shown below.
What changes the pay for a single shift?
Paid hours matter as much as the rate. Here's one shift at $25 an hour, four ways:
| One shift | Hourly rate | Shift pay |
|---|---|---|
| 12 paid hours | $25 | $300.00 |
| 11.5 paid hours (unpaid 30-minute meal break) | $25 | $287.50 |
| 12.5 paid hours (30-minute handover) | $25 | $312.50 |
| 12 paid hours with a $3 night differential | $28 | $336.00 |
A meal break of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid, but only if you're completely relieved from duty. If you eat at your desk and keep answering calls, the Department of Labor (DOL) treats that as work.
Time around the shift counts too. Work your employer allows, even if nobody asked for it, must be paid. So a 30-minute handover after a 12-hour shift makes 12.5 paid hours.
When does a 12-hour shift earn overtime?
Federal law counts the week, not the shift. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the rule. Covered employees get at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek:
Three 12-hour shifts make 36 hours, so no federal overtime is due. Four make 48, and 8 of those hours are overtime. Here's that week at a $25 base rate:
| Part of the week | Rate | Hours | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 shifts: all hours at base rate | $25 | 36 | $900 |
| 4 shifts: first 40 hours | $25 | 40 | $1,000 |
| 4 shifts: 8 overtime hours at time and a half | $37.50 | 8 | $300 |
| 4 shifts at straight time, for comparison | $25 | 48 | $1,200 |
The four-shift week pays $1,000 + $300 = $1,300. That's $100 more than straight time, because each overtime hour adds half your rate: 8 × $12.50.
To use the calculator this way, run it twice. Enter your base rate with the regular hours, then 1.5 times your rate with the overtime hours.
Rotations: every week counts on its own
Say your rotation alternates a three-shift week with a four-shift week. The DOL says plainly that averaging hours over two or more weeks is not permitted. So the 48-hour week keeps its 8 overtime hours, and the two weeks pay $900 + $1,300 = $2,200.
Averaged, each week would look like 42 hours, with just 4 overtime hours in total. That would pay $2,150 (80 × $25 + 4 × $37.50), so averaging would cost you $50.
Your workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours, or seven days in a row. It doesn't have to match the calendar week, so ask your employer when yours starts.
California also counts the day
California adds daily overtime to the weekly rule. Its Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) sets out the standard rates:
- 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 8, up to and including 12, in a workday
- Double your regular rate for hours over 12 in a workday
- 1.5 times for hours over 40 in a workweek
- 1.5 times for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive workday in a workweek, and double beyond that
So under the standard rules, every 12-hour shift carries 4 overtime hours, even in a 36-hour week. Here's a 14-hour shift at a $25 base, priced part by part:
| California shift, $25 base | Rate | Hours | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours 1 to 8 at the base rate | $25 | 8 | $200 |
| Hours 9 to 12 at time and a half | $37.50 | 4 | $150 |
| Hours 13 and 14 at double time | $50 | 2 | $100 |
A 12-hour shift stops after the second row: $200 + $150 = $350. The 14-hour shift adds $100, for $450 in total.
California employers can also adopt an alternative workweek schedule, such as three 12-hour days, under the state's wage orders. That uses a different method of computing overtime, so ask whether your workplace has one.
Night differentials raise your overtime rate
Overtime is 1.5 times your regular rate, not your base rate. The regular rate is your total pay for the week divided by the hours you actually worked.
It includes all pay for the work except items the FLSA leaves out. Those include overtime premiums, true weekend or holiday premiums, discretionary bonuses, gifts and pay for time off.
A night differential isn't on that list. With $3 extra on every hour, your regular rate is $28, so overtime pays $42 an hour instead of $37.50.
What federal law doesn't require
The FLSA doesn't require extra pay for work on weekends or holidays as such. It also sets no limit on weekly hours for employees aged 16 and over. For anything more, check your contract and your state's labor department.
To price overtime hours on their own, use the overtime calculator or the time and a half calculator. The hourly to salary calculator turns a rotation into a yearly figure.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA (revised October 2019)
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the FLSA (revised July 2008)
- California Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner's Office, Overtime FAQ