Guides / Read a pay package
How to read a pay package
The weekly number on a posting is a total. What you can bank on is the taxable hourly rate, the hours that are guaranteed, and what happens when a shift is cancelled.
Updated November 10, 2026.
General information, not tax or legal advice. The example is an assumption, not a real offer. Check your own contract and ask a qualified professional about your tax facts.
Split the weekly total first
$2,300 a week with a $1,200 stipend over 36 hours is $30.56 an hour taxable, not the $63.89 "blended" figure the total works out to.
$2,300 weekly total − $1,200 stipend = $1,100 taxable wages
$1,100 ÷ 36 hours = $30.56 an hour
That taxable rate is what overtime and missed shifts are figured on. A stipend is paid for travel expenses and is often a fixed weekly or daily amount. The blended-pay guide walks through regular-hours and all-hours blends and when overtime is already baked in.
The five lines to find in every offer
- Taxable hourly rate. Ask for it in writing. A very low taxable rate with a large stipend shrinks your overtime and anything else paid per hour, and a stipend you do not qualify for is taxed anyway.
- Stipend or per diem. Weekly or daily? Paid on days off, travel days and missed shifts? It is tax-free only under an accountable plan and only if you have a tax home away from the job; otherwise payroll treats it as wages (IRS Pub. 15). For a yardstick, the federal standard rate for travel from October 1, 2026 is $113 a night for lodging and $68 a day for meals and incidentals, higher in 295 named areas (GSA FY 2027). Look up the job's county on our per diem reference.
- Guaranteed hours. How many hours a week are guaranteed, and do they cover facility-cancelled shifts? Without a guarantee, one cancelled 12 costs $367 of wages in the example, and some contracts also cut the stipend for that day.
- Cancellation and early end. Notice period on each side, who pays the trip home, and anything you would repay: completion bonuses, housing deposits, credential costs.
- Overtime base. Overtime should be at least 1.5× the regular rate, and the regular rate includes shift differentials and nondiscretionary bonuses (DOL Fact Sheet 54). A per diem that reasonably matches real travel costs stays out of it; an amount that is disproportionately large counts as pay (29 CFR 778.217).
What overtime is really worth
In the example, time and a half is $45.83 an hour, not 1.5 × the $63.89 blended rate ($95.83). A 48-hour week pays about $2,789 with the stipend, $489 more than the 36-hour week for 12 more hours. Ask for the OT rate as a dollar figure, and whether it starts after 40 hours in a week or under a hospital 8-and-80 agreement.
Run your own numbers
Sources for this page
- DOL Fact Sheet 54, Health care industry and overtime Checked November 10, 2026.
- DOL Fact Sheet 56A, Regular rate under the FLSA Checked November 10, 2026.
- 29 CFR 778.217, Reimbursement for expenses Checked November 10, 2026.
- IRS Publication 15 (2026), accountable plans and per diem Checked November 10, 2026.
- IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses 2025 edition. Checked November 10, 2026.
- GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 27-01 (FY 2027 rates) Checked November 10, 2026.