Does your paystub match your offer?

3. Questions for payroll

If payroll’s answer doesn’t settle it

The rules these questions rest on

1. Hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at time and a half of your regular rate. The workweek is the unit: a 12-hour shift is not overtime by itself under federal law, and a light week does not cancel a heavy one. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1) (FLSA § 7(a)): not less than one and one-half times the regular rate Checked November 10, 2026.
2. A hospital or residential care facility can use a 14-day period instead of the 40-hour week. Then you are paid time and a half for hours over 8 in a day and hours over 80 in the 14 days. Under 8-and-80, a 12-hour shift carries 4 overtime hours that day even if the period stays under 80. 29 CFR § 778.601: in excess of 8 hours in any workday and in excess of 80 hours in such 14-day period Checked November 10, 2026.
3. A bonus promised ahead of time or paid by a set rule (attendance, production, quality) is part of the regular rate that overtime is figured from, unless a specific exclusion in the law applies. A truly discretionary bonus is not. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56C: Bonuses under the FLSA: Nondiscretionary bonuses are included in the regular rate of pay, unless they qualify as excludable under another statutory provision Checked November 10, 2026.
4. A sign-on bonus may be left out of the regular rate, as a gift or under the exclusion for payments not made for hours of work. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56C: Bonuses under the FLSA: Sign-on bonuses given to employees with or without clawback provisions may be excluded as gifts or may be excluded under 29 U.S.C. § 207(e)(2) Checked November 10, 2026.
5. A bonus earned over several weeks (a completion or retention bonus, for example) that counts toward the regular rate is spread back over the weeks it was earned, and overtime is refigured for each of those weeks that had overtime. It is not loaded into the week it was paid. Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 778.209 (Method of inclusion of bonus in regular rate): it must be apportioned back over the workweeks of the period during which it may be said to have been earned Checked November 10, 2026.
6. The regular rate for a week is the pay that counts toward it divided by all hours worked that week. Overtime adds half that rate for each overtime hour on top of straight time. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56C: Bonuses under the FLSA: Total compensation for the week (except the statutory exclusions) ÷ Total hours worked in the week = Regular Rate per hour for the week Checked November 10, 2026.
7. Pay at a premium rate for work on weekends, holidays or rest days may be left out of the regular rate when that rate is at least one and a half times the normal rate for the same work, and it may count toward the overtime owed. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56A: Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay: may be excluded if the premium rate is at least equal to one and one-half times the rate established in good faith for like work performed in nonovertime hours on other days. Such compensation may be creditable toward overtime pay due under the FLSA Checked November 10, 2026.
8. Call-back pay for unplanned work may be left out of the regular rate if the call-back was not arranged in advance. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56A: Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay: Call-back pay may be excluded from the regular rate provided the call-back was not prearranged Checked November 10, 2026.
9. Holiday pay for a holiday you did not work is not pay for hours worked, so it is left out of the regular rate. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56A: Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay: the holiday payment is excludable from the regular rate, because it is not considered a payment for hours worked Checked November 10, 2026.
10. Reimbursement that reasonably matches expenses you incur for the employer, such as travel, can be left out of the regular rate. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet #56A: Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay: approximate amount of expenses that an employee incurs while furthering the employer's interests may be excluded from the regular rate Checked November 10, 2026.
11. An amount above the real expense, or one that pays everyday costs such as rent you would have anyway, counts toward the regular rate. Code of Federal Regulations, 29 CFR 778.217 (Reimbursement for expenses): is disproportionately large, the excess amount will be included in the regular rate Checked November 10, 2026.

Overtime is figured by the workweek under federal law, and your state may add its own rules. Your contract decides guarantees, stipend reductions and bonuses, so the questions above ask where the contract says it.