Yes, when the bonus is nondiscretionary. It is easy to treat a production bonus or a night-shift differential as extra pay sitting off to the side of the overtime calculation -- but the federal FLSA folds it into the regular rate first, which changes the overtime premium owed on every hour already worked past the threshold that week.
Yes, if it is nondiscretionary. Under the federal FLSA, a nondiscretionary bonus (one promised or expected in advance, such as a production, attendance, or quality bonus) is added to the employee's earnings for the period it covers before the regular rate is calculated. A higher regular rate means a higher overtime premium on every hour already worked past the threshold that week -- the bonus does not sit off to the side of the overtime math, it changes it.
One the employee could reasonably expect from a formula, quota, or announced policy set in advance -- a production bonus, a perfect-attendance bonus, a shift differential paid for working nights or weekends, a nonexempt commission. A true discretionary bonus (the amount and the fact of paying it are both decided at the employer's sole discretion near the end of the period, with no prior promise or formula) is excluded from the regular rate. Calling a bonus discretionary does not make it so -- a formula or a standing policy makes it nondiscretionary even if the paperwork says otherwise.
Add the bonus to the straight-time earnings for the period it covers, then divide by the total hours worked in that same period -- that is the regular rate. The overtime premium is half that regular rate for each hour worked past the threshold, added on top of straight-time pay already paid at the base rate for every hour including the overtime ones. A bonus covering more than one workweek (monthly or quarterly) has to be apportioned back across the workweeks it covers before this step, which is its own calculation this page does not walk through.
No. The blended-rate calculator on this page computes the regular rate from hours-and-rate rows you enter; it has no separate bonus field, and adding a bonus as a fake extra row would also inflate the total hours the threshold is measured against, producing a wrong total rather than a close one. Compute the bonus-inclusive regular rate by hand with the formula above, then use it to check the total the same way you would check any other overtime figure -- this page is the arithmetic, not a substitute for it.
An employee earns $20/hour, works 45 hours in the workweek, and receives a $90 production bonus that covers that single workweek.
| Step | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Straight-time pay at the base rate | 45 hours × $20 | $900 |
| Add the nondiscretionary bonus | $900 + $90 | $990 |
| Bonus-inclusive regular rate | $990 ÷ 45 hours | $22 / hour |
| Overtime premium (half-time) on the 5 hours past 40 | 5 × ($22 × 0.5) | $55 |
| Total pay for the week | $990 + $55 | $1,045 |
Compare the $22/hour regular rate above with this employee's own single-rate calculation, which the bonus never touches: without the bonus, the regular rate is the plain $20/hour base rate and the overtime premium on those same 5 hours is only $50, not $55. The $90 bonus is not fully separate pay -- $5 of the premium above exists only because the bonus raised the regular rate it is calculated from.