Why an 80-hour biweekly time card can include five overtime hours
With a user-selected 40-hour weekly threshold, 40 + 40 hours produces no overtime, while 45 + 35 produces five overtime hours. At USD 20 per hour and 1.5×, the gross estimates are USD 1,600 and USD 1,650.
Worked comparison
Keep total net hours, rate, threshold and multiplier fixed. Only the distribution between weeks changes. For each week, regular hours are the smaller of net hours and 40; overtime is the excess above 40. Add the two weekly results afterward. In the uneven schedule, 75 × 20 + 5 × 20 × 1.5 = 1,650. The USD 50 difference is 5 × 20 × 0.5: the base value of those five hours was already present in the even schedule.
This table scrolls horizontally on small screens.
| Schedule | Week 1 / week 2 | Regular / OT | Gross estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Even | 40 h / 40 h | 80 h / 0 h | USD 1,600 |
| Uneven | 45 h / 35 h | 75 h / 5 h | USD 1,650 |
| Both exceed threshold | 45 h / 45 h | 80 h / 10 h | USD 1,900 |
A mistake to avoid
Applying one 80-hour threshold to the entire two-week card would erase the uneven schedule’s five overtime hours. The week boundary matters too: with Monday as week start, Sunday 23:00 to Monday 03:00, no break and no DST transition, allocates one hour to the old week and three to the new week. A break is allocated proportionally across the split; it is not subtracted in full from both weeks.
Apply it to your calculation
- Select a two-week card, its start date and week-start rule.
- Apply each public example deliberately; keep the 40-hour threshold, USD 20 rate and 1.5 multiplier unchanged.
- Calculate and inspect each week’s breakdown before comparing the combined total.
Sources and limits
This is your chosen weekly arithmetic model. It does not determine daily overtime, eligibility under law, holiday premiums, taxes or contractual pay. Dated shifts still lack a work-location time zone, so Time Card does not adjust for DST.
Example notes updated: