What is an FLSA workweek?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour periods) used to count overtime.
The workweek can start on any day and at any hour the employer chooses, but it must stay fixed. Each workweek stands alone: hours cannot be averaged across two or more weeks, so 30 hours one week and 50 the next means 10 overtime hours, even though the average is 40.
This matters for biweekly and semi-monthly pay periods: overtime is still worked out week by week inside the pay period, not on the 80-hour total.
Example: Biweekly period: week 1 = 46 h, week 2 = 34 h. Total 80 h, but 6 h of week 1 are overtime.
Sources
Related terms
- Overtime (federal)For non-exempt employees, pay of at least one and a half times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
- Pay periodHow often wages are paid: weekly (52 a year), biweekly (26, occasionally 27), semi-monthly (24, usually the 15th and the last day) or monthly (12).
- Regular rate of payThe hourly rate overtime is based on: all pay for the workweek's work divided by the hours worked, not just the base hourly wage.
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