Regular Rate of Pay Calculator: Federal (FLSA) + California
Overtime is owed on the regular rate — includable pay ÷ hours worked, recomputed every workweek — not the base wage. Enter one workweek below in federal or California mode, then use the specialty tools for Alvarado flat-sum bonuses, Ferra meal premiums, and retroactive bonus true-ups. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
includable pay ÷ total hours (29 CFR 778.110)—
Flat-sum bonus: federal method vs. California (Alvarado v. Dart Container)
For flat-sum bonuses (a fixed dollar amount — attendance, weekend, retention), California divides by non-overtime hours and pays 1.5× per OT hour; federal law divides by total hours and pays 0.5×. A California engine cannot reuse the federal formula.
bonus ÷ total hours × 0.5 × OT hours—
bonus ÷ non-OT hours × 1.5 × OT hours—
Meal & rest premiums at the regular rate (Ferra v. Loews)
Each missed meal or rest break owes one hour of pay — at the full regular rate, not the base wage (Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, 11 Cal.5th 858 (2021), retroactive). Systems configured to pay premiums at base rate underpay every premium in bonus weeks.
Retroactive bonus true-up (29 CFR 778.209)
A quarterly or annual nondiscretionary bonus must be allocated back across the workweeks it was earned in, each week's regular rate recomputed, and extra half-time paid on that week's overtime hours. This tool assumes uniform weeks — real data varies, which is exactly the point. (Percentage-of-total-earnings bonuses are the exception: the premium is already embedded — DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-6.)
Payroll systems process periods forward and close them; almost none replays closed periods when the bonus lands. Unpaid true-ups compound across every employee and every bonus cycle — and they're missing from your W-2 Box 12 code TT number too.
These are single-employee, single-week numbers.
The free exposure snapshot runs the full computation — federal and California layers, every employee, every workweek of a quarter — from your actual payroll register and time data, and ranks the gap by pay code.
Request the free snapshot Read the code TT guideWorked example (verifiable by hand)
Regular rate: quick answers
What is the regular rate of pay? The regular rate is the hourly rate overtime must legally be based on: all includable remuneration for the workweek — base wages, nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, shift differentials — divided by total hours worked that week (29 USC §207(e); 29 CFR 778.110). It is recomputed every workweek and is usually higher than the base hourly wage.
How is the regular rate calculated in California? California uses the same includable-compensation principle but layers daily overtime (1.5× after 8 hours in a day, 2× after 12), seventh-consecutive-day premiums, and meal/rest premiums paid at the full regular rate per Ferra v. Loews. For flat-sum bonuses, California divides the bonus by non-overtime hours worked rather than total hours, per Alvarado v. Dart Container — which produces a higher rate than the federal method.
How do flat-sum bonuses affect overtime in California? Under Alvarado v. Dart Container, a flat-sum bonus (a fixed dollar amount, like a $120 attendance bonus) is divided by the employee's non-overtime hours — not total hours — and the resulting per-hour bonus rate is paid at 1.5× for each overtime hour. The federal method divides by total hours and pays 0.5×, so the California method always owes more.
What rate are California meal and rest premiums paid at? The full regular rate of pay — not the base hourly wage — per Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, 11 Cal.5th 858 (2021), which applies retroactively. An employer paying missed-break premiums at the base rate underpays every premium in any week the employee earned a bonus or differential.
What happens to overtime when a bonus is paid for a past period? A nondiscretionary bonus earned over multiple workweeks must be allocated back across those weeks (29 CFR 778.209), each week's regular rate recomputed, and additional overtime premium paid on each week's overtime hours. An exception: a bonus paid as a fixed percentage of total earnings including overtime already embeds the premium (DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-6).
Educational tools — not legal or tax advice. Sources: DOL Fact Sheet #56A · DOL Fact Sheet #56C · 29 CFR 778.110 · 29 CFR 778.209 · Alvarado v. Dart Container, 4 Cal.5th 542 (2018) · Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, 11 Cal.5th 858 (2021). The California mode simplifies edge cases (alternative workweek schedules, multiple rates, piece rates) — that's the complexity the snapshot handles.