FLSA weekly overtime
Payable hours are totaled across the workweek. Anything above 40 hours is paid at 1.5×. A 24-hour shift at 13 payable hours, three times per week, stays under 40 and has no federal overtime.
24-hour shifts · FLSA sleep & meal rules
24-hour shift pay calculator.
Built for live-in caregivers, nurses, firefighters, EMTs, and on-call workers. Deduct sleep and meal time, split California daily overtime, add shift differentials, and see gross and take-home pay per shift.
02 — Payout
Shift earnings
Base $20.00/hr · $0.00 differential ·$20.00/hr effective
Shift hour splitAverage per shift
Regular 131.5× OT 02× DT 0Unpaid 11
Pay per single shift$260.00Estimated net $213.20 after 18%
Regular 1× 13 hrs$260.00
Overtime 1.5× 0 hrs$0.00
Double time 2× 0 hrs$0.00
Federal overtime is calculated on the full week, then averaged across shifts.
Weekly · 3 shifts$780.00Net $639.60
Bi-weekly · 26/yr$1,560.00Net $1,279.20
Monthly$3,380.00Net $2,771.60
Annual$40,560.00Net $33,259.20
Estimates only. Sleep and meal exclusions depend on the actual duty arrangement. Tax figures are simplified planning estimates, not withholding advice.
How it works
How 24-hour shift pay is calculated
A 24-hour shift does not automatically mean 24 paid hours. Under US FLSA rules, employers may exclude certain sleep and meal periods, then apply federal or state overtime rules to the remaining payable hours.
1. Find the payable hours
Start with the total shift length. Subtract excludable sleep time (up to 8 hours) and duty-free meal time (up to 3 hours). The result is the number of hours paid per shift.
Payable hours = shift length − sleep − meals
2. Apply the right overtime rule
Federal FLSA overtime is weekly: all payable hours up to 40 are paid at 1×, and hours above 40 are paid at 1.5×. California daily overtime is shift-based: the first 8 payable hours are 1×, hours 8 to 12 are 1.5×, and hours beyond 12 are 2×. Flat mode pays every payable hour at 1×.
3. Add differentials and estimate take-home
A night or weekend differential is added to the base rate before overtime is applied, so it raises the effective regular rate. The take-home toggle then applies a simplified US tax estimate — FICA only (7.65%), standard (18%), high-tax state (24%), or no-income-tax state (15%).
Overtime modes
Which overtime rule applies?
The same 24-hour shift can produce very different pay depending on where and how the worker is employed.
Daily overtime split
Daily overtime applies per shift, regardless of the weekly total. The first 8 payable hours are regular, hours 8 to 12 are time and a half, and hours past 12 are double time.
Flat hourly pay
Some firefighter, EMT, and alternative schedules pay every payable hour at the regular rate, often with a built-in shift or schedule differential instead of weekly overtime.
24-hour shift field guide
The 24-hour shift, without the payroll guesswork.
A 24-hour shift is a payroll document with a bed in it. The sleep and meal rules are specific, and the difference between 13 paid hours and 24 paid hours can be hundreds of dollars a week.
The 8-hour sleep rule, in plain English
The federal rule lives at 29 CFR § 785.22. It applies to employees on duty for 24 hours or more. An employer may exclude a regularly scheduled sleep period of up to eight hours, but only if four conditions are met: there is an agreement between the employer and worker, adequate sleeping facilities are provided, the worker can usually get an uninterrupted night's sleep, and the sleep period is bona fide. If the shift is less than 24 hours, this rule does not let the employer exclude sleep at all.
The five-hour test is the one that decides most disputes. If the worker cannot get at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep, the entire eight-hour sleep period must be paid. If the worker gets five hours and is then woken for 20 minutes, the 20 minutes is paid, but the remaining sleep time can still be excluded.
Calls to duty count. If a client wakes you at 11 p.m., 1 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m., you did not get five straight hours. The full eight hours is payable. If you get six hours straight and one 15-minute call, the 15 minutes is paid and the other sleep time can be excluded. The test is not "did I sleep at all?" It is "did I get five hours without interruption?"
Write it down
The federal rule allows an express or implied agreement. Some states require a written agreement. Put the sleep window, meal periods, wake-up policy, and deduction rules in writing before the first shift. A text message is better than a verbal promise; a signed addendum is better than both.
One $20/hr shift, two outcomes13 vs. 24 paid hours
8 sleep hours + 3 meal hours excluded13 payable hours
13 hours × $20 straight time$260.00
Sleep interrupted below 5 hours24 payable hours
24 hours × $20 straight time$480.00
Difference per shift$220.00
That $220 gap is why the sleep log matters. Three shifts a week with the same interruption pattern is $660 in straight-time pay before any overtime premium. If the employer also applied the wrong overtime rule, the gap gets larger.
Duty-free meals vs. working lunches
Employers can exclude up to three hours of meal time on a 24-hour shift, usually one hour each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The key phrase is duty-free. You must be completely relieved of all duties. Eating while watching a patient, answering a call light, monitoring a seizure, or staying alone with a client who cannot be left unsupervised is paid time.
A meal break is not duty-free if you cannot leave the work area, if you must respond to the client, or if the employer controls your time. A break where you can leave the premises and do what you want is more likely excludable. Even then, state rules may require a paid meal period or a written waiver. The federal sleep and meal rule is not a license to skip lunch.
Usually excludable
Duty-free meal
You are relieved of all duties, can leave the work area, and are not responsible for the client. The time is scheduled and recorded.
Usually paid
Working lunch
You eat at the desk, keep the monitor on, answer calls, or remain the only responsible adult. The client's needs still control your time.
California adds meal-period rules on top. A 30-minute meal break is generally due before the end of the fifth hour for shifts over five hours, and a second meal period before the end of the 10th hour for shifts over 10 hours. If the break is missed, the worker may be owed a premium. Health care employees have specific waivers and 12-hour-shift rules. The 24-hour sleep and meal exclusion does not override those meal periods.
The desk-lunch trap
If you eat at the desk with one eye on the monitor, log it as work. The employer may call it a lunch; a wage-and-hour investigator will look at whether you were actually relieved. A 30-minute break that you never got is 30 minutes of pay, every shift, every week.
California Wage Order 5, AB 1028, and the federal rule
California is not a federal copy. Wage Order 5 covers public housekeeping, including many health care and residential care employers. It has daily overtime and specific sleep and meal provisions for certain 24-hour shifts. The general daily overtime rule is first eight hours at 1×, hours eight through 12 at 1.5×, and hours beyond 12 at 2×. Weekly overtime after 40 also applies, but the same hour is not paid twice at two different premiums; the worker gets the higher rate.
A common citation in caregiver threads is AB 1028. Check the bill text before you rely on it. In recent sessions, AB 1028 has addressed other subjects, and the caregiver overtime framework is usually traced to the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (AB 241) and Wage Order 5. Bill numbers get reused. If an employer cites a bill, ask for the section and the effective date.
Run the same shift under both rules. At $20/hr, a 24-hour shift with eight sleep hours and three meal hours has 13 payable hours. Three shifts a week is 39 payable hours. Federal weekly pay is 39 × $20 = $780. California daily pay is 8 × $20 + 4 × $30 + 1 × $40 = $320 per shift, or $960 for three shifts. The California schedule pays $180 more for the same 39 payable hours because daily overtime starts at hour eight of each shift.
If no sleep or meal deduction applies, the shift is 24 payable hours. California daily pay is 8 × $20 + 4 × $30 + 12 × $40 = $760 per shift, or $2,280 for three shifts. Federal weekly pay is 40 × $20 + 32 × $30 = $1,760. The gap is $520. The bigger the deduction, the more the daily rule matters.
Federal FLSA
Weekly test
Add payable hours across the workweek. The first 40 are 1×; hours above 40 are 1.5×. A 39-hour week has no federal overtime.
California
Daily test
Each workday stands alone. First 8 payable hours at 1×, hours 8 to 12 at 1.5×, and hours beyond 12 at 2×. A 13-hour day has 5 overtime hours.
Wage Order 5 has exceptions and industry-specific rules. Some 24-hour care employees may be covered by a different order. Confirm the order that covers your employer.
3x12 hospital shifts, differentials, and the fourth shift
A 3x12 schedule is 36 hours. Many hospitals treat 36 hours as full-time with benefits. Under federal FLSA, 36 hours is under 40, so there is no weekly overtime in a normal week. Under California daily overtime, each 12-hour shift can produce four hours of daily overtime unless the hospital has a valid alternative workweek schedule. Many hospitals do; some do not. Ask which schedule you are on.
Hospitals may use the FLSA 8/80 rule: overtime after eight hours in a day or 80 hours in 14 days, not both. This is an alternative to the standard 40-hour workweek for hospital employees. It does not apply to every facility or every role. If you are on 8/80, a 12-hour shift can create four hours of daily overtime even when your two-week total stays under 80.
Night and weekend differentials are part of the regular rate. If your base is $40 and you get a $4 night differential, your regular rate for those hours is $44. The 1.5× overtime rate is $66, not $60. If the differential applies only to some hours, payroll must use a weighted average. Non-discretionary bonuses, charge pay, preceptor pay, and hazard pay generally count too.
3x12 plus a fourth shift$40 base + $4 night
Regular rate for night hours$44.00/hr
36 hours × $44$1,584.00/week
48 hours: 40 × $44 + 8 × $66$2,288.00/week
Extra pay from the fourth shift$704.00
The fourth shift is where the math changes. A 36-hour nurse who picks up a 12-hour shift is at 48 hours, not 36 plus 12 straight time. The extra check may look great until you see the hours. Check whether the hospital pays the differential on all hours, whether the shift triggers daily overtime, and whether it pushes you over 40 in the workweek.
36 is full-time, not overtime
Do not assume a 36-hour schedule is paid as 40. Some hospitals pay 36 for 40; others pay 36. Read the offer. The difference is four hours of pay every week, or about $8,320 a year at $40/hr before differentials.
Questions
24-hour shift pay FAQ
FLSA sleep and meal rules, California daily overtime, pay periods, and FICA.
Can sleep and meal time be deducted from a 24-hour caregiver shift?
Under FLSA rules, up to 8 hours of sleep time may be excluded only when the worker gets at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Up to 3 duty-free meal hours — typically one hour each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — may also be excluded. With the full 8 sleep and 3 meal hours excluded, 13 of the 24 hours remain payable. If the worker is on duty or sleep is interrupted below the 5-hour threshold, the time is generally paid.
How is federal overtime calculated across a week of 24-hour shifts?
Federal FLSA overtime is a weekly test. Add every payable hour across the 7-day workweek; the first 40 hours are paid at 1× and hours above 40 at 1.5×. A 24-hour shift with 13 payable hours worked three times a week totals 39 payable hours, so no federal overtime applies. The calculator shows the exact weekly result and divides it by the number of shifts for the per-shift average.
How does California daily overtime work on an 8-hour or 12-hour shift?
California requires daily overtime based on hours worked in a single workday. The first 8 hours are paid at 1×, hours 8 through 12 are paid at 1.5×, and hours beyond 12 are paid at 2×. A 24-hour shift with no sleep or meal deductions therefore splits into 8 regular, 4 overtime, and 12 double-time hours.
Does a night or weekend differential count toward overtime?
Yes. A shift differential is generally included in the FLSA regular rate, so it raises the base used for the 1.5× and 2× multipliers. NetHourly adds the differential to the hourly rate before applying overtime, which matches the regular-rate approach for non-discretionary shift pay.
What is the difference between bi-weekly and semi-monthly paychecks?
Bi-weekly pay arrives every two weeks, producing 26 paychecks a year. Semi-monthly pay arrives twice a month — usually the 1st and 15th — producing 24 paychecks a year. A semi-monthly check is larger because annual pay is split 24 ways instead of 26, but there are two fewer checks each year.
What is FICA and how much is deducted from each paycheck?
FICA is the mandatory federal payroll tax for Social Security and Medicare. Employees pay 6.2% for Social Security on covered wages plus 1.45% for Medicare, for a combined 7.65% of gross pay. NetHourly applies that 7.65% inside every after-tax estimate; federal and state income tax withholding are separate.