How to calculate time and a half salary

In the United States and many other countries, there is a standard length of the work week, generally 40 hours at work; If an employer wants an employee to work more than 40 hours in a given week, they must pay what is called a “time and a half” wage.

Simply put, they receive their normal salary for the first 40 hours of a workweek, but once they reach 40 hours of work, they begin to be paid at the rate of time and a half, or a year and a half. half your usual salary.

Suppose Sue, an office worker in Washington state, earns $ 15 an hour and works 55 hours in a given week. Washington requires companies to pay workers “time and a half” if they work more than 40 hours in a given week. How much will Sue earn this week?

We know that he works 55 hours; the first 40 hours are calculated at your regular wage of $ 15 / hour, and the remaining 15 hours are calculated at the wage of “time and a half”, that is, one and a half times your usual wage of $ 15 / hour. We can put this into the calculator: 15 times 1.5 = $ 22.50. So, during the last 15 hours of her workweek, Sue earns $ 22.50 / hr.

So how much do you earn in total?

During your first 40 hours, you make $ 15 / hr – that’s 40 times 15, or $ 600.

During the last 15 hours, you earn $ 22.50 / hour – that’s 15 times 22.50, or $ 337.50.

In total, therefore, you earn $ 600 + $ 337.50, or $ 937.50.

Notice how in the last 15 hours, Sue earned almost two-thirds of the pay during her first 40 hours, so the time and a half is really worth it in Sue’s case.

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Let’s look at another example: Suppose Bill works as a machinist and earns $ 20 per hour. If Bill runs a 65-hour workweek while his company delivers a large order, how much will he earn that week?

Note that Bill works his first 40 hours at a rate of $ 20 / hr, and the last 25 hours at a rate of time and a half, 1.5 times 20, or $ 30 / hr.

So, for the first 40 hours, Bill wins 40 times 20 = $ 800.

And for the next 25 hours, Bill wins 25 times 30 = $ 750.

So in total, Bill earns $ 800 + $ 750 = $ 1550.

Again, Bill earns about the same amount of pay in his 25 overtime hours as he does during his 40 regular-time work hours. This is why employees love overtime and bosses hate it!