What is a workweek for overtime?
For U.S. overtime, a workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring 168-hour period — seven consecutive 24-hour days — chosen by the employer. It doesn't have to start on Sunday or match your pay period.
Workweek (for overtime) — For U.S. overtime, a workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring 168-hour period — seven consecutive 24-hour days — chosen by the employer. It doesn't have to start on Sunday or match your pay period.
In more detail
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime is generally owed for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Each workweek stands alone: hours can't be averaged across two weeks.
Because the employer sets the start day and time, a workweek might run Wednesday 7 am to the next Wednesday 7 am. If you track hours by calendar week instead, your overtime numbers can be wrong even when every shift is logged correctly.
Other places use different rules. Ontario's Employment Standards Act, for example, uses 44 hours, and some contracts add daily overtime.
What to do about it
- Ask your employer when the workweek starts — day and time.
- Group your shifts by that workweek, not by pay period.
- Hours over the threshold in that week are overtime.
- Compare the overtime on your pay stub with your own count.
EarnCheck: Shift & Pay Tracker
Set your employer's real workweek, log shifts, and compare your pay stub line by line.
Get it on the App StoreQuestions people ask
- Can my employer average hours over two weeks?
- Under the FLSA, generally no — each workweek is counted separately.
- Is the workweek the same as the pay period?
- Not necessarily. A two-week pay period contains two separate workweeks.