How Nurse Overtime Is Calculated

For most hourly nurses, overtime is calculated under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): you earn at least time and a half your regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. Hospitals have one alternative, the 8/80 system, which pays overtime for hours over 8 in a day or over 80 in a 14-day period. Some states add their own daily overtime rules, and an employer policy or union contract can be more generous than the law, so the exact math depends on where and for whom you work.

Who is covered by overtime rules

The FLSA's overtime rules apply to non-exempt employees, meaning workers the law entitles to overtime pay. Most staff nurses paid by the hour are non-exempt. Some salaried nursing roles, often in management, education or advanced practice, may be classified as exempt, and federal overtime rules do not apply to those jobs.

Your offer letter or HR can tell you which category your job falls into. If you are weighing a salaried role against an hourly one, our post on hourly vs salaried nursing jobs covers the tradeoffs.

The standard rule: over 40 hours in a workweek

Under the standard method, the unit that matters is the workweek: a fixed, recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour days set by your employer. It does not have to run Sunday to Saturday. It can start on any day and at any hour, which is why it helps to know exactly when yours begins.

Three points trip nurses up:

1. Each workweek stands alone. If you work 48 hours one week and 24 the next, you are owed 8 overtime hours for the first week, even though the two weeks together come to 72. Under the standard method, your employer cannot average the two weeks.
2. Shifts can straddle two workweeks. A night shift that runs past the start of a new workweek may have its hours split between the two weeks. Ask payroll how your employer handles it.
3. Hours worked are what count. Under federal rules, paid time off, sick time and holiday hours you did not work generally do not count toward the 40. Some employers and union contracts count them anyway, so check your policy.

A quick example: four 12-hour shifts in one workweek is 48 hours worked, so 40 hours are paid at your regular rate and 8 at time and a half. Three 12-hour shifts plus a 4-hour required class is exactly 40 hours worked, so no federal overtime is owed, although your employer's policy might pay extra anyway.

The hospital option: the 8/80 system

Hospitals and residential care facilities may use a 14-day work period instead of the 7-day workweek, but only by agreement or understanding with the employee before the work is performed. Under 8/80, you earn overtime for hours worked over 8 in any workday or over 80 in the 14-day period, whichever gives you more overtime hours. The same hours are not counted twice.

Here is why the system matters. Say you work 8-hour shifts and put in 48 hours in week one and 32 in week two. Under 8/80, that is 80 hours with no day over 8, so no overtime is owed. Under the standard method, those same two weeks give you 8 overtime hours in week one.

Now consider 12-hour shifts. Every 12-hour shift has 4 hours past 8, and under 8/80 those daily hours count as overtime. That is one reason 8/80 tends to fit 8-hour schedules better than 12-hour ones. If you are not sure which system you are on, ask HR before you pick up extra shifts.

What goes into your regular rate

Time and a half is based on your regular rate, which is not always the same as your base hourly rate. Under federal rules, the regular rate generally includes most pay you earn for the work itself, such as:

• Shift differentials for nights, evenings and weekends
• Charge pay and similar premiums for hours worked
• Nondiscretionary bonuses, meaning bonuses promised in advance for meeting set conditions, like attendance or picking up a set number of shifts

It generally leaves out things like truly discretionary bonuses, gifts and pay for time not worked, such as PTO. If you work at two different rates in one week, for example in two roles with different pay, the regular rate is often a weighted average of both, though other methods are allowed in some situations.

Bonuses can also change overtime after the fact. When a nondiscretionary bonus covers several weeks, it generally has to be spread back over the weeks it was earned, and overtime for those weeks recalculated. That is why you may see a small overtime adjustment line on a later paycheck.

For more on how differentials are applied, read what a shift differential is and how it is paid. For the full picture of base rate, premiums and overtime together, see how nurse pay works.

State rules, policies and contracts

Federal law sets the floor, not the ceiling. Some states add daily overtime rules, and some limit mandatory overtime for nurses. Your employer's policy or a union contract can also pay overtime on better terms, for example for hours past your scheduled shift. Check your state labor department, your employee handbook and, if you have one, your contract. Our article on union nurse contracts, pay steps and raises explains where pay rules sit in a contract.

Call-back hours count as hours worked too. If your unit uses call, read on-call and call-back pay for nurses.

How to check your paycheck

1. Find out your workweek start day and time, or confirm that you are on 8/80.
2. Track your own hours worked, including late clock-outs.
3. If a meal break is automatically deducted but you worked through it, report it through your employer's process so the time is paid.
4. Count overtime hours against the right period, not the whole pay period.
5. Check that your overtime rate reflects differentials, not just base pay.
6. Watch for overtime adjustments after a bonus pays out.
7. If something looks off, ask payroll in writing and keep a copy.

To estimate how extra shifts change your paycheck before you say yes, try the free pay calculator. Nurses who work nights compare notes on straddled shifts and pay periods in the Night Shift Warriors group.

Next step

To see how your base rate compares before you count overtime, check NurseTide's registered nurse pay page, which shows pay ranges from jobs posted on the site.

General information for nurses, not medical, legal, tax or financial advice. Follow your facility's policies, your state board of nursing and the terms of your employer or contract.