12-Hour Shift Pay Calculator

The 12-hour shift pay calculator estimates gross pay for a single 12-hour workday when part of the day is paid at a regular hourly wage and the rest is paid at an overtime hourly wage. Enter the regular hourly wage, the overtime hourly wage, and the number of regular hours within the 12-hour shift. The results include pay per 12-hour shift, average wage per hour, regular pay, overtime pay, pay per week, pay per month, pay per year, and overtime hours.

This page is built for long shifts in health care, manufacturing, public safety, warehousing, transportation support, security, and other roles where a 12-hour day is common. It is more specific than a general overtime calculator because the total shift length is fixed at 12 hours. It is more detailed than a basic hourly to salary calculator because it splits regular pay from overtime pay. For a salary comparison after calculating shift pay, use salary or yearly wage.

Inputs and fixed assumptions

The form has three inputs. Hourly wage is the regular hourly rate. Overtime hourly wage is the actual premium rate to apply to overtime hours. The calculator does not compute the premium from a multiplier; it uses the dollar amount entered. Number of regular hours tells the calculator how much of the 12-hour shift is regular time. The remaining hours become overtime hours.

The shift length is fixed at 12 hours in the calculation. Longer-term projections are also fixed: pay per week is pay per shift times 5, pay per month is pay per shift times 22, and pay per year is pay per shift times 260. Those projections are useful planning shortcuts, but they do not model a rotating two-week schedule, a Panama schedule, holidays, unpaid leave, or extra shifts.

Formula

Overtime hours are:

$\text{overtime hours} = 12 - \text{regular hours}$

The calculator prevents regular hours above 12, so overtime hours cannot become negative. Regular pay and overtime pay are:

$\text{regular pay} = \text{regular hours} \times \text{hourly wage}$

$\text{overtime pay} = \text{overtime hours} \times \text{overtime hourly wage}$

Pay per shift is:

$\text{shift pay} = \text{regular pay} + \text{overtime pay}$

Average wage per hour is:

$\text{average hourly wage} = \frac{\text{shift pay}}{12}$

The projections are:

$\text{weekly pay} = \text{shift pay} \times 5$

$\text{monthly pay} = \text{shift pay} \times 22$

$\text{yearly pay} = \text{shift pay} \times 260$

Example

Use the default inputs: $20 hourly wage, $30 overtime hourly wage, and 8 regular hours. Overtime hours are 12 minus 8, or 4. Regular pay is 8 times $20, or $160. Overtime pay is 4 times $30, or $120. Pay per 12-hour shift is $160 plus $120, which equals $280.

Average wage per hour is $280 divided by 12, or $23.33. Weekly projection is $280 times 5, or $1,400. Monthly projection is $280 times 22, or $6,160. Yearly projection is $280 times 260, or $72,800. The result also displays overtime hours as 4.

For a different structure, enter $25 regular wage, $37.50 overtime wage, and 10 regular hours. Overtime hours become 2. Regular pay is $250, overtime pay is $75, and shift pay is $325. Average hourly wage is $325 divided by 12, or $27.08. The weekly, monthly, and yearly projections use the same fixed multipliers.

FLSA overtime context

The U.S. Department of Labor explains that the Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay for many covered, nonexempt employees at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. This matters because federal overtime is usually a weekly test, not simply a daily test. A 12-hour shift can create overtime under a company policy, union contract, state law, or weekly FLSA total, but this calculator does not decide which rule applies.

For that reason, the overtime hourly wage field is manual. If time and a half applies to a $20 regular wage, enter $30. If a contract pays double time after certain hours, enter that actual rate for the overtime portion you are modeling. If your employer uses multiple premiums, calculate each segment separately or use payroll records.

Practical use cases

Use this page before accepting a long-shift schedule, checking a shift swap, pricing overtime availability, or comparing a 12-hour role with an eight-hour job. The average hourly wage is especially useful. It shows that a $280 shift over 12 hours averages $23.33 per hour, even though the base wage is $20 and the overtime wage is $30.

For budgets, remember that all results are gross. Taxes, deductions, paid meal breaks, unpaid meal breaks, night shift differentials, weekend premiums, bonuses, and benefit costs can change take-home cash. To estimate after-tax cash, compare the gross projection with gross to net.

Common mistakes

• Entering 1.5 in the overtime wage field instead of the actual overtime hourly wage.
• Assuming every 12-hour shift has four overtime hours; the calculator uses 12 minus regular hours.
• Treating the fixed 5-shift weekly projection as a custom schedule.
• Forgetting unpaid meal breaks or paid differentials.
• Using average hourly wage as proof of legal compliance.

Method and source limits

DOL sources establish federal overtime context, not that every 12-hour shift earns overtime. The overtime rate and fixed 5-shift, 22-shift, and 260-shift projections are labeled calculator assumptions; contracts and state or local law may differ. Sources and linked guidance below were accessed July 9, 2026; later revisions are outside this page version.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Labor, Overtime Pay — federal overtime pay guidance.
• U.S. Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Act — wage and hour law background.
• BLS, Average weekly hours of all employees: Total private — weekly hours data series for context.