Texas Overtime Laws: What the FLSA Requires, Who Is Exempt, and How to Calculate Pay

The first thing to know about Texas overtime laws is that Texas has no overtime statute of its own. Overtime in Texas follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): non exempt employees earn at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek. There is no daily overtime, so a 12 hour shift is not overtime on its own, and the state minimum wage is the federal $7.25 an hour.

The rule itself is simple enough. Where employers go wrong is the detail, such as what counts as the regular rate, which salaried employees are really exempt, whether a city or state agency can give comp time instead of cash, and how long an employee has to claim unpaid hours. Each one is covered below, with worked examples and a link to the statute or agency guidance behind every figure.

Texas overtime laws: the short answer

The Texas Minimum Wage Act requires employers to pay “the federal minimum wage under Section 6, Fair Labor Standards Act” and contains no overtime provision at all. Overtime therefore comes entirely from 29 U.S.C. § 207, the federal maximum hours rule, which means the overtime laws in Texas are, in practice, the federal ones.

What is considered overtime in Texas

Overtime in Texas is any hour a non exempt employee actually works beyond 40 in a workweek. The Texas Workforce Commission’s Guidebook for Employers makes three points that trip people up:

• Only hours worked count. Paid vacation, sick leave, and paid holidays do not count toward the 40. An employee who takes a paid holiday on Monday and works 42 hours over the other four days is owed 2 hours of overtime, not 10.
• Long days are not overtime by themselves. Four 12 hour shifts add up to 48 hours and 8 hours of overtime. Three 12 hour shifts add up to 36 hours and no overtime, however long each day felt.
• Weeks cannot be averaged. The workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours that the employer chooses, such as Sunday to Saturday. Fifty hours one week and thirty the next means 10 overtime hours in the first week, even though the two weeks average 40.

The one exception to the weekly rule is the 8 and 80 system in § 207(j). Hospitals and residential care facilities may agree with employees to use a 14 day period instead of a workweek, as long as they pay overtime for hours over 8 in a day and over 80 in the 14 days.

How to calculate overtime pay in Texas

Wherever the FLSA applies, the formula is regular rate x 1.5 x overtime hours. The part people get wrong is the regular rate. Under 29 CFR Part 778, it includes nearly everything paid for the work in that week, including shift differentials and nondiscretionary bonuses such as production, attendance, or safety bonuses. It is often higher than the hourly wage on the offer letter. Our step by step guide to overtime calculation covers more pay structures, and the overtime calculator does the arithmetic for you.

Example 1: hourly employee

A warehouse associate in Houston earns $20 an hour and works 48 hours in a week.

Example 2: hourly employee with a production bonus

The same associate works 45 hours and earns a $90 production bonus that week. Because the bonus was promised for meeting a target, it is nondiscretionary and must go into the regular rate.

If payroll ignores the bonus and pays overtime at $30 on the base wage alone, the total is $1,040, so the employee is $5 short. That looks trivial. Across 30 employees who earn a weekly bonus, it is $150 a week and about $7,800 over a 52 week year, and an FLSA claim can reach back two or three years with liquidated damages on top.

Example 3: salaried non exempt employee

An office coordinator is paid a $900 weekly salary intended to cover 40 hours. The job does not meet the duties test for an exemption, so the coordinator is non exempt despite the salary, and works 45 hours this week.

Salary alone does not remove the right to overtime. Our guide to overtime for salaried employees explains the fluctuating workweek method and other salaried pay plans.

Who is exempt from overtime pay in Texas

Because Texas adds nothing of its own, the exemptions are the federal ones. The most common are the white collar exemptions in 29 CFR Part 541. An employee usually qualifies only if all three tests are met:

1. Salary basis.

   A fixed salary that is not reduced for the quality or quantity of work.

2. Salary level.

   At least $684 a week, which is $35,568 a year, according to the Department of Labor’s earnings thresholds.

3. Duties.

   The job’s primary duty must be executive, administrative, or professional work as the regulation defines it. A job title such as “manager” proves nothing on its own.

Several special rules sit alongside the standard test. Highly compensated employees earning at least $107,432 a year in total, including at least $684 a week in salary, face a lighter duties test. Computer employees can be exempt if paid at least $27.63 an hour. Outside sales employees have no salary requirement. The FLSA also exempts some groups by industry rather than by duties, and our guide on who is exempt from overtime pay lists them.

Is mandatory overtime legal in Texas?

Yes, for most adult employees. The TWC guidance on work schedules says employers “can require employees to work overtime,” as long as non exempt employees are paid for it. Neither the FLSA nor Texas law caps daily or weekly hours for workers aged 16 and over, and an employee who refuses scheduled overtime can generally be disciplined.

The main exception is nursing. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 258 says “a hospital may not require a nurse to work mandatory overtime, and a nurse may refuse to work mandatory overtime.” Hospitals cannot use on call time as a substitute, and they cannot retaliate against a nurse who refuses. The ban lifts during declared disasters, unforeseen emergencies, or when a nurse is in the middle of a procedure. Employees under 16 also have federal limits on how many hours they may work.

Overtime for public employees and comp time

Private employers in Texas must pay overtime in cash. Giving time off later instead of overtime pay is a common mistake, and the TWC notes in its guide to advanced FLSA issues that employees paid with comp time when they should have received cash can file claims under the Texas Payday Law, the FLSA, or both.

Public agencies are different. Under § 207(o), states, cities, counties, and school districts may give compensatory time at 1.5 hours for each overtime hour. Employees can accrue up to 240 hours, or 480 hours in public safety, emergency response, or seasonal work. For state agencies, the Texas Comptroller’s payroll guide applies Government Code § 659.015: agencies grant comp time at 1.5 hours per overtime hour, or pay 1.5 times the regular rate when time off is impractical.

Is overtime taxed in Texas?

Texas has no state income tax, so overtime pay carries no state income tax. It is still subject to federal income tax and to Social Security and Medicare withholding.

For tax years 2025 through 2028, the IRS explains that workers can deduct qualified overtime compensation: the part of FLSA required overtime pay that exceeds the regular rate, which is the “half” in time and a half. The deduction is capped at $12,500 a year, or $25,000 for joint filers, and phases out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $300,000 for joint filers.

Only the premium is deductible, not the full overtime pay, and only overtime the FLSA requires counts. Extra pay an employer offers voluntarily, such as double time on weekends, does not qualify beyond the FLSA amount.

What happens if overtime is not paid

An employee in Texas has two routes, and they have very different deadlines:

• A wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. Under the Texas Payday Law, the claim must be filed no later than 180 days after the date the wages were due. Older amounts fall outside it.
• A complaint to the US Department of Labor or a lawsuit under the FLSA. 29 U.S.C. § 255 allows two years from each missed payment, or three years if the violation was willful. A successful claim usually recovers the unpaid overtime plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, along with attorney’s fees.

For employers, the defense in either case is an accurate record of hours worked. Without them, the employee’s reasonable estimate of hours is usually enough to prove the claim. Our guide to employee timekeeping covers what those records need to show and how long to keep them.

Track hours by task, calculate overtime automatically, and see overtime costs in one report with actiTIME

Try Free

Six Texas overtime mistakes

1. Averaging hours across two weeks.

   Outside the hospital 8 and 80 system, each workweek stands alone. A 50 hour week followed by a 30 hour week still owes 10 hours of overtime.

2. Offering comp time in a private company.

   Time off next month does not replace overtime pay this week. Only public agencies may use comp time.

3. Treating every salaried employee as exempt.

   Someone paid under $684 a week, or whose main duties fail the duties test, is owed overtime regardless of salary or title.

4. Leaving bonuses out of the regular rate.

   Promised bonuses and shift differentials raise the regular rate, and the overtime rate with it, as Example 2 shows.

5. Not counting work off the clock.

   Answering email at home, finishing a task after clocking out, or a required pre shift meeting are hours worked if the employer knows or should know about them.

6. Approving overtime only after the fact.

   An employer can require approval and discipline employees who skip it, but hours already worked must still be paid.

If you manage teams in more than one state, compare these rules with stricter regimes such as California overtime laws, which add daily overtime and double time.

Tracking overtime with actiTIME

Every rule above depends on an accurate count of hours worked per workweek. In actiTIME, employees log time against tasks in a weekly timesheet or as start and stop times in Calendar View, and managers approve each week before payroll.

• Overtime Registration calculates overtime automatically for each user, or lets employees enter it manually, depending on the setting you choose for them. For exempt staff, you can turn it off so all hours count as regular time.
• The Time Balance and Overtime Report compares worked time with scheduled hours across the team, so you can see who is approaching 40 hours before the week ends.
• Set a separate overtime rate in each user’s profile, and overtime costs appear in the Cost of Work Report by project and customer.
• Approved weeks can be locked, so hours that went to payroll cannot be changed afterward.

FAQ

Is it illegal to work more than 12 hours a day in Texas?

No. Texas and federal law set no daily hours limit for employees aged 16 and over, and a long day only creates overtime when the weekly total passes 40. The main exception is hospital nurses, who can refuse mandatory overtime under Health and Safety Code Chapter 258. Employers in regulated industries such as trucking may also face federal safety limits on driving hours.

Do part time employees get overtime in Texas?

Yes, if they work more than 40 hours in a workweek and are not exempt. The rule depends on hours actually worked, not on whether the job is labeled part time. A part time employee who picks up extra shifts and reaches 44 hours is owed 4 hours at time and a half.

What are the overtime laws in Texas for 2026?

The core rule has not changed: time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek, with the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Two things are new. The salary level for most exempt employees is confirmed at $684 a week after the Department of Labor’s 2026 technical amendment, and workers can deduct the premium portion of overtime from federal taxable income for 2025 through 2028.

Keep the records that settle the question

Texas overtime laws are short because the state leaves overtime to the FLSA. Disputes still come down to how many hours were worked, in which workweek, and at what regular rate. When those hours are tracked daily and approved weekly, there is usually little left to argue about.

To see how that works with your team, start a free trial of actiTIME. It runs for 30 days with every feature included, and afterward you can keep the permanent free version for teams of up to 3 users.