Fact Sheet #56A: Overview of the Regular Rate of Pay Under the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA U S. Department of Labor

For example, an employer may be incentivized to switch a salaried, FLSA-exempt employee who regularly works more than 40 hours a week to an hourly wage that, with overtime, is equal to the employee’s current pre-tax income. Other employees might prefer taking overtime pay to receiving bonuses under this proposal. Those changes would result in savings for the employer as well as greater after-tax income for the employee. In this scenario, workers would see no real tax benefit despite working extra hours, while their employer would benefit from reduced labor costs. In simpler terms, non-exempt employees receive overtime pay for working extra hours, while exempt employees do not.

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Not only would this satisfy broad public support for a shorter work week, but it would also help workers with contra asset account care responsibilities. These workers would either gain more time to spend with children, family, and others, or if they maintained a 40-hour work week, they’d have extra earnings to help offset costs of child care, elder care, or other related needs. With Congressional Republicans having passed a budget resolution, one of the tax provisions certain to be discussed in federal budget deliberations will be President Trump’s expressed priority to exempt overtime pay from taxation. The idea has gained steam across the country, with lawmakers in 19 states already introducing bills in 2025 to exempt overtime pay from state taxes. When you pay your employees twice a month, it’s called a semi-monthly pay period. The employee classification rules make it easier to clarify the conditions of employment, particularly for non-exempt employees and the wages and other guarantees that come with it.

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It may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day established by the employer. Overtime pay is triggered when an employee works more than 40 hours in the workweek. This amount of time includes only actual hours worked and excludes pay for time not worked, such as vacation or sick leave. It is important to know what’s considered overtime hours at your workplace so that you can manage your expectations. Overtime is the extra time an employee works out of their typically scheduled work hours.

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Distinguishing between regular wages, tips, overtime, and bonuses adds bureaucratic overhead for employers and the revenue departments of the states, increasing errors and evasion risks. The lack of uniformity across states further muddies the waters, creating confusion for taxpayers and administrators alike. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal overtime laws, the employee is entitled to overtime according to the higher standard (i.e., the standard that will provide the higher overtime pay). According to the Yale Budget Lab’s tax microsimulation model, even before taking into account potential gaming of the system, creating a federal income tax deduction for overtime would cost an estimated $866 billion over the next 10 years. If the overtime exemption were extended to payroll taxes, the cost rises to $1.3 trillion, 77% of which would have gone to Social Security.

Find your NYSLRS retirement plan publication for comprehensive information about your retirement benefits and how your pension will be calculated. Applying the current-policy baseline would not only be fiscally irresponsible in terms of this year’s tax debate, but it would set a dangerous precedent for the future. Fully extending the TCJA would cost approximately $5.0 trillion, while other elements of the Republican tax agenda also have large price tags over ten years. Nationally, only approximately 6 percent of employed individuals reported that they typically worked overtime in 2024. The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the https://www.bookstime.com/articles/vertical-analysis ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

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The law, enacted in response to rising inflation, is scheduled to sunset in mid-2025. The Alabama exemption cost the state $230 million in the first nine months of 2024 alone and is projected to cost $345 million by the time it expires. Because income taxes are the largest source of revenue for public education in Alabama, the exemption denied millions in needed funding for the state’s Education Trust Fund. State officials explained that the true how much is overtime pay costs were more than $45 million higher than projected because the state lacked data on how much employers paid in overtime. Some states have their own overtime pay laws that may offer extra protections or be different from federal rules.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

• As previously stated, the federal rate is time and one-half the regular rate of pay, however, states that have their own laws may require daily overtime payments or double time premium pay.
• Excel at your job by becoming more efficient, effective, and impactful in your day-to-day HR work.
• Moreover, many workers are unable to work overtime—due to care responsibilities, health needs, or other constraints—even if they want to.
• Overtime compensation must be paid on the regular payday for the period in which such workweek ends or as soon as practicable after the regular pay period if the correct payment amount cannot be determined immediately.
• This is crucial in reducing recruitment costs and maintaining a skilled workforce.
• Some states like California and Maine have a different threshold and should be followed accordingly.

You may be holding off on filing your 2024 taxes after hearing about all of the various tax proposals and uncertainty around if and when they will pass. There is no reason to delay filing since these are only tax proposals and do not impact your 2024 taxes. TurboTax can help you easily and accurately file your taxes whether you want to do your taxes yourself, want help along the way, or you want to fully hand them over to a TurboTax Live expert so you can get closer to your tax refund.