A payroll admin who handles blended-rate overtime more than once usually ends up with a spreadsheet formula for it: sum the straight-time pay, divide by total hours for the regular rate, then add half that rate for each overtime hour. That formula is correct if every cell reference is right and the "half, not the full rate" rule is remembered every time it is copied to a new row.
A spreadsheet can compute this correctly, and many payroll admins already have a formula for it. What it does not do on its own is show the full breakdown for a specific week in a form you can hand to someone else, or stop a copied formula from silently pointing at the wrong row after rates or hours change.
This calculator applies the FLSA weighted-average method (29 CFR 778.115) to the rates and hours you enter, shows the regular rate, the straight-time total, and the overtime premium as separate lines, and lets you copy the full breakdown as a plain-text record -- no formula to write or re-check.
| Question | Where to answer it |
|---|---|
| Can I compute blended-rate overtime in a spreadsheet? | Yes -- if the formula is right and stays right as rows are added. |
| Is the overtime premium the full rate or half the rate? | Half the blended rate -- the mistake this calculator's FAQ and this page both call out. |
| Can I hand someone the full breakdown without re-deriving it? | This calculator's copy-breakdown output, not a screenshot of a formula bar. |
| Does either one know my state's overtime rules? | Neither -- both apply only the federal threshold and multiplier you configure. |
| Is anything I enter uploaded anywhere? | No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent to a server. |
Yes, with the right formula: total straight-time earnings divided by total hours gives the regular rate, and the overtime premium is half that regular rate for each overtime hour. The arithmetic itself is not hard — getting every cell reference right, and remembering it is half the rate rather than the full 1.5x, is where a hand-built sheet most often goes wrong.
Because that is the right move for a single hourly rate, and the blended-rate case looks similar. It isn't: straight-time pay for every hour worked, including the overtime hours, is already counted once in the total straight-time earnings. Adding the full 1.5x rate on top double-counts that first 1x — only the extra half-time premium is owed.
Whether the formula was copied correctly to every row, whether a rate or hours cell was left pointing at last week's numbers, and whether the result actually equals time-and-a-half in total once the premium is added. A calculator built for this one purpose runs the same formula every time and shows the full breakdown so the total is checkable by eye.
No. Both this calculator and a spreadsheet apply only the rules you configure — the federal FLSA 40-hour threshold and 1.5x multiplier by default. Several states require more: daily overtime, a double-time threshold, or a higher minimum multiplier. Check your state's rules and your own pay policy before relying on either total.
No. The calculator this page links to runs entirely in your browser; nothing you enter is uploaded.