← Reference notes

Overtime pay under federal law

Summary

Under the FLSA, covered non-exempt employees get at least 1.5× their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Weekends and holidays do not require overtime by themselves, and hours cannot be averaged across weeks.

General information, not legal advice. State laws may give more protection; check your state labor department.

Facts

• id: F1 claim: Covered, non-exempt employees must get at least time and a half their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY 4.0
• id: F2 claim: The FLSA sets no limit on weekly hours for employees 16 and older. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY 4.0
• id: F3 claim: The FLSA does not require overtime pay for weekends, holidays, or rest days unless hours exceed 40 that week. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY 4.0
• id: F4 claim: A workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period that can start on any day and hour. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY 4.0
• id: F5 claim: Hours cannot be averaged over two or more weeks. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY 4.0

Pointers

• answers: Full official guidance beyond this summary where: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime access: open, no account

For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/reference/us-gov/overtime-pay.md.