Ohio Overtime Calculator: the complete guide
Ohio's overtime rule under Ohio Rev. Code Sec. 4111.03 follows the standard federal formula — 1.5x an employee's regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, with no daily-overtime trigger — but Ohio has an unusual wrinkle in its minimum wage law that indirectly affects the overtime calculation: the higher $11.00/hr state minimum wage only applies to employers whose annual gross receipts exceed $405,000. Smaller employers, and 14-15 year old employees, use the lower federal $7.25/hr floor instead.
Because overtime is calculated as a multiple of the regular rate, and the regular rate must be at least the applicable minimum wage, this gross-receipts threshold matters even though it's technically a minimum-wage rule rather than an overtime rule. This page walks through the standard overtime calculation and the gross-receipts distinction specifically.
How overtime works in Ohio
A non-exempt Ohio employee is owed 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek, with no state daily-overtime rule. A single long shift, on its own, produces no overtime under Ohio law unless the week's total hours exceed 40.
An employee earning $16.00/hr works 43 hours in one workweek. The first 40 hours are straight time: 40 x $16.00 = $640.00. The remaining 3 hours are overtime at 1.5x: 3 x $24.00 = $72.00. Total pay for the week: $640.00 + $72.00 = $712.00.
The $405,000 gross-receipts threshold
Ohio's constitutional minimum wage of $11.00/hr, adjusted for inflation each January 1 under Ohio Const. art. II Sec. 34a, only applies to employers with annual gross receipts above $405,000. Employers below that threshold, along with any employer's 14- and 15-year-old employees, are governed by the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr instead. This is a meaningful gap: a small Ohio business under the receipts threshold can lawfully pay $7.25/hr while a larger competitor across the street must pay at least $11.00/hr for the same job.
Ohio's tipped cash wage is $5.50/hr with a $5.50/hr tip credit for employers above the threshold, matching the standard 50/50 split; smaller employers below the threshold apply the federal tipped structure ($2.13/hr cash, $5.12/hr credit) instead.
Exemptions in Ohio
Ohio generally follows the federal FLSA's exemption categories for executive, administrative, and professional employees, without layering on a significant set of additional state-specific exemptions. As under federal law, job title alone never creates an exemption; both the salary test (at least $684/week) and the applicable duties test must be met.
The regular rate and bonuses
As under any FLSA-governed calculation, a nondiscretionary bonus must be folded into the regular rate before the 1.5x overtime multiplier applies. For an Ohio employer near the $405,000 gross-receipts line, correctly identifying which minimum wage floor applies is the first step; folding in any earned bonus on top of that correct floor is the second, and both matter for getting the true overtime rate right.
Working two roles at different pay rates for the same employer
Ohio retail and manufacturing employers sometimes schedule the same worker into two different roles in one workweek, each with its own hourly rate — a sales-floor role and a stockroom role, for instance. Federal law, which governs this calculation in Ohio once the correct minimum wage floor for the employer's size is established, does not allow 1.5x to be applied to whichever single rate happened to be in effect during the overtime hours. Instead, both rates are blended into one weighted-average regular rate for the week, and overtime is calculated from that blended figure.
As an alternative to the weighted-average method, federal regulations (29 CFR Sec. 778.419) allow an employer and employee to agree in advance, before the work is performed, that overtime hours will be paid at 1.5x the specific rate for whichever job the employee was actually doing during those overtime hours, rather than the blended average. This pre-agreement method is not automatic; without a genuine advance agreement meeting the regulation's requirements, the weighted-average method is the default, and an employer cannot retroactively pick whichever method produces a lower bill after the fact.
An employee works 30 hours at $20.00/hr in one role and 20 hours at $15.00/hr in a second role for the same employer, 50 hours total for the week. Straight-time earnings: (30 x $20.00) + (20 x $15.00) = $600.00 + $300.00 = $900.00. The weighted-average regular rate is $900.00 / 50 = $18.00/hr. Since straight-time pay already covers the base rate for every hour, only an extra 0.5x the regular rate is owed for the 10 overtime hours: 10 x ($18.00 x 0.5) = $90.00. Total pay for the week: $900.00 + $90.00 = $990.00.
Recordkeeping and your rights
Keep your pay stubs, any written schedule, and your own log of daily hours worked in each role, since a multi-role regular-rate dispute, or a gross-receipts-threshold mix-up, is resolved almost entirely on that documentation. The Ohio Department of Commerce investigates state wage claims separately from the federal Wage and Hour Division, so a claim can often be pursued through either or both routes. If you don't know your employer's approximate annual gross receipts, a payroll department or HR representative should be able to confirm which minimum wage floor applies before you calculate the shortfall yourself.
Common mistakes
Applying the $11.00/hr minimum wage to an employer under the gross-receipts threshold. A small employer under $405,000 in annual gross receipts is only required to pay the federal $7.25/hr floor; assuming the higher state rate always applies statewide overstates what smaller Ohio employers are legally required to pay (though paying more is never unlawful).
Applying the $7.25/hr floor to an employer above the gross-receipts threshold. An employer with gross receipts above $405,000 that pays only $7.25/hr instead of the required $11.00/hr is underpaying the minimum wage, and because overtime is a multiple of the regular rate, every overtime hour that week is understated too.
Assuming Ohio has a daily-overtime rule. Treating a single 12-hour Ohio shift as automatically triggering overtime, the way California would, is incorrect; Ohio uses the federal weekly-only 40-hour rule.
Ignoring a nondiscretionary bonus in the overtime rate. Applying 1.5x to a bare hourly rate while an earned production bonus goes unaccounted for understates every overtime hour paid that week.
Ohio's two-tier minimum wage
| Employer size | Applicable minimum wage |
|---|---|
| Annual gross receipts above $405,000 | $11.00/hr (state rate, CPI-adjusted each Jan 1) |
| Annual gross receipts at or below $405,000 | $7.25/hr (federal floor) |
| 14-15 year old employees (any employer) | $7.25/hr (federal floor) |
| Overtime rule (all employers) | 1.5x over 40 hours/week, federal formula |
How to file a claim
If your Ohio paycheck doesn't reflect the correct minimum wage tier or overtime calculation, raise it first with your employer or payroll department, since misapplying the gross-receipts threshold is a common and correctable error. If that doesn't resolve it, you can file a wage claim with the Ohio Department of Commerce, which investigates unpaid overtime and minimum wage claims at no cost. Ohio Department of Commerce.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Ohio have its own overtime rate different from the federal rate?
- No. Ohio's overtime rate under Ohio Rev. Code Sec. 4111.03 is the same 1.5x-over-40-hours formula as the federal FLSA, with no separate state daily-overtime rule. What differs in Ohio is which minimum wage floor applies, based on the employer's size.
- What is the $405,000 threshold in Ohio's minimum wage law?
- It's the annual gross-receipts figure that determines which minimum wage an Ohio employer must pay. Employers above $405,000 in annual gross receipts must pay the state's $11.00/hr rate, while employers at or below that figure, and any employer's 14-15 year old employees, may pay the lower federal $7.25/hr floor instead.
- Does the gross-receipts threshold affect overtime directly?
- Only indirectly, through the regular rate. Overtime is calculated as 1.5x whatever the employee's regular hourly rate is, and that rate must be at least the applicable minimum wage, so using the wrong minimum-wage floor as a baseline understates both straight-time and overtime pay for an employer that got the threshold wrong.
- Is there daily overtime in Ohio?
- No. Ohio follows the federal weekly-only rule: a single long shift produces no overtime by itself unless the week's total hours exceed 40. Only the 40-hour weekly threshold triggers overtime under Ohio law.
- What is Ohio's tipped minimum wage?
- For employers above the $405,000 gross-receipts threshold, Ohio's tipped cash wage is $5.50/hr with a $5.50/hr tip credit, together equaling the $11.00/hr state minimum wage. Employers below the threshold use the federal tipped structure of $2.13/hr cash plus a $5.12/hr credit instead.
- How often does Ohio's minimum wage change?
- Ohio's state minimum wage is adjusted for inflation every January 1 under a constitutional formula (Ohio Const. art. II Sec. 34a), so it can change even in years without new legislation. The federal $7.25/hr floor that smaller employers use has not changed since 2009.
- How does a bonus affect Ohio overtime pay?
- A nondiscretionary bonus must be folded into the regular rate before the 1.5x overtime multiplier is applied, the same requirement as under federal law generally, once the correct minimum-wage floor for your employer's size has been established. Skipping either step understates the true overtime rate.
- Where do I file an unpaid overtime claim in Ohio?
- You can file a wage claim with the Ohio Department of Commerce, which investigates unpaid overtime and minimum wage claims, including disputes over which gross-receipts tier applies, at no cost. Keep your pay stubs and your own hours log to support the claim.