How to use this calculator
- Choose the employer’s workweek start. Keep each seven-day week separate; do not average a biweekly period.
- Enter actual punches and compliant unpaid meals, retaining paid breaks. Consecutive blocks can cross midnight, adjacent days and week boundaries.
- Select Colorado and enter your regular hourly rate. Check daily, consecutive and weekly allocations together with the meal-gap assumptions below.
Formula
Mark minutes after 720 worked minutes attributed to a day and after 720 worked minutes in a consecutive block. Take the union of those sets so overlapping minutes receive overtime once. Then move remaining regular minutes above 2,400 per workweek to 1.5×. This sequential allocation implements Rule 4.1.2’s greater-payment comparison with one regular rate and one 1.5× premium.
Worked examples
Three thirteen-hour days at $28: daily trigger in a short week
Schedule: 13:00 + 13:00 + 13:00 of net worked time. The engine calculates 39:00 (39.00 hours).
Regular: 36:00 (36.00 h); overtime: 3:00 (3.00 h); double time: 0:00 (0.00 h). At $28.00 per hour, estimated gross pay is $1,134.00.
Four eleven-hour days at $24: weekly trigger
Schedule: 11:00 + 11:00 + 11:00 + 11:00 of net worked time. The engine calculates 44:00 (44.00 hours).
Regular: 40:00 (40.00 h); overtime: 4:00 (4.00 h); double time: 0:00 (0.00 h). At $24.00 per hour, estimated gross pay is $1,104.00.
Three triggers under COMPS Order #40
COMPS Order #40, effective February 1, 2026, sets three tests in Rule 4.1.1. Work over forty hours in a workweek, twelve hours in a workday, or twelve consecutive hours receives time-and-a-half. The engine combines daily and consecutive overtime minute by minute, counting their union once, then checks remaining regular time against forty hours. Rule 4.1.2 requires the greater payment. Rule 4.1.3 prohibits averaging across workweeks.
Twelve consecutive hours can cross workdays
Monday 4pm–midnight followed by Tuesday midnight–8am is sixteen consecutive worked hours. Tuesday receives four overtime hours even though each day has only eight hours. Under Rule 4.2, consecutive counting leaves the established workday and workweek intact. Every segment stays attributed to its start day and week, while the consecutive count continues across week boundaries. Employers may define a different fixed 24-hour workday, such as one starting at 6:00 a.m., which can change results.
Agriculture and other exceptions
Agricultural overtime uses a forty-eight-hour threshold, or fifty-six at some highly seasonal sites. Some health, ski and heavy-vehicle jobs are partly or fully exempt. Those situations are outside this standard preset. The verified rule does not allow averaging across workweeks, and compensatory time cannot replace required overtime pay. Consult the official order for coverage and precise exceptions.
Break entries and pay limits
The calculator keeps segments in one consecutive block when their gap is at most sixty minutes, assuming an eligible meal break. Longer gaps end the block. Gaps contribute zero worked minutes. Rule 4.1.5 permits meal subtraction only for Rule 5.1-compliant meals, uninterrupted, duty-free and at least thirty minutes. Verify that assumption against actual records, especially shorter gaps. Positionless unpaid break minutes are deducted from the earliest worked minutes of the day’s first segment, continuing through later segments if needed, preserving the tail. Deduct each meal once and retain paid rest time. Pay uses one regular rate.
Frequently asked questions
Can the same minute receive daily and consecutive overtime twice?
The engine takes the union of both overtime sets. Each minute receives the 1.5× rate once. Weekly overtime applies only to remaining regular minutes, preventing double counting across all three tests.
Does Colorado overtime begin after eight hours?
This standard COMPS preset applies time-and-a-half after twelve worked hours per day, twelve consecutive worked hours, or forty worked hours per week.
Does the engine check twelve consecutive hours?
Yes. It builds a chronological minute timeline across the card. Minutes after the twelfth worked hour of a block receive overtime on their attributed day, including blocks spanning a biweekly boundary.
Can meals be subtracted from consecutive hours?
Rule 4.1.5 permits subtraction of compliant meals. The tool assumes gaps of sixty minutes or less preserve a consecutive block and excludes gap time. Gaps over sixty minutes end the block. Entered unpaid break minutes reduce worked time from the day’s earliest segment. Confirm meals satisfy Rule 5.1 and avoid duplicate deductions.
Can I average two workweeks?
No. Each week has its own forty-hour threshold under Rule 4.1.3. A consecutive block can continue across the boundary, but its minutes stay in their attributed week under Rule 4.2.
Can comp time replace overtime pay?
No. Under the verified COMPS rule, compensatory time cannot replace required overtime pay.
Does this preset cover agriculture?
No. Agriculture uses forty-eight hours, or fifty-six at some highly seasonal sites. Check the order rather than applying this standard forty-hour preset.
What about ski, health or heavy-vehicle work?
Some such jobs have partial or full exemptions. This calculator does not determine exemption status; review COMPS Order #40.