Workweek averaging happens when your employer combines hours from two weeks to decide whether you earned overtime. A two-week pay period may make this practice seem proper, but a pay stub that shows only total hours could hide unpaid overtime.
In most cases, your employer cannot average your hours across two weeks. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to calculate overtime for each workweek on its own. A shorter week does not cancel overtime you earned during a longer week, even if one paycheck covers both.
How overtime applies each week
A workweek covers 168 straight hours or seven straight 24-hour periods. Your employer may choose the day and time when it begins. Once your employer sets that period, it must recur on the same schedule.
If the FLSA covers you and no exemption applies, your employer must pay overtime when you work more than 40 hours in one workweek. The law sets the overtime rate at no less than one and one-half times your regular rate.
New York generally requires overtime pay after 40 hours in a workweek for covered, nonexempt employees. Certain residential “live-in” workers qualify after 44 hours. State wage orders may also require added pay, such as spread-of-hours pay, for workers in covered industries.
Your pay cycle does not change the workweek rule. A paycheck may cover two weeks, but your employer must still review each week on its own.
Averaging may hide unpaid overtime
Suppose you work 48 hours one week and 32 hours the next. Although the two-week total is 80 hours, you still earned eight hours of overtime in the first week. The shorter week does not erase that overtime.
Your employer might average the two weeks and report 40 hours per week. That calculation could make your paycheck look correct even though it leaves out the overtime pay from the first week.
Consider checking your timecard against your pay stub each week and noting any work outside your scheduled hours. Clear records may help you spot unpaid overtime.
Prepare to review your weekly pay
Changing schedules can make pay records difficult to follow. Understanding the rules that govern your wages gives you a practical way to check whether your pay is correct. If you suspect an FLSA violation, clear records may help you assess the issue and prepare to take formal action.
