Pennsylvania Overtime Laws

Time-and-a-half after 40 hours worked in a workweek is the practical starting point for most covered, nonexempt employees.

Overtime is calculated by workweek, not by pay period. An employer cannot average a long week and a short week together to avoid overtime that was earned in the long week.

How this differs from federal law: The ordinary 40-hour rule tracks the FLSA, but Pennsylvania separately recognizes an agreed 8-and-80 system in qualifying care settings and restricts mandatory overtime for certain direct-care workers.

Pennsylvania's executive, administrative and professional exemptions require qualifying duties, salary-basis pay and the applicable salary level. As of this August 2026 review, the state agency identifies $684 per week; that number should be rechecked when federal rules change.

The general rule does not fit every worker or workplace. These points are especially important in Pennsylvania:

• -Most covered employees use the 40-hour workweek rule, but a qualifying hospital or residential-care employer and employee can agree to an 8-and-80 system for a 14-day work period.
• -Under a valid 8-and-80 arrangement, overtime is due after eight hours in a workday and after 80 hours in the 14-day period.
• -Pennsylvania's Act 102 limits when certain direct-care workers can be required to work beyond an agreed, predetermined shift. That scheduling protection is separate from the overtime pay calculation.

Under the FLSA, hours worked include time the employer requires or permits an employee to spend working. That can include required preparation, certain training or travel, and work performed before clocking in or after clocking out.

Paid vacation, holidays and sick leave usually are not hours actually worked for the federal 40-hour calculation. A contract, policy or state-specific rule can be more generous.

The workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours. It does not have to run Monday through Sunday, but it cannot be changed from week to week to avoid overtime.

Being paid a salary does not automatically remove an employee's right to overtime.

Common executive, administrative and professional exemptions depend on the employee's real job duties and the applicable pay-basis requirements. A title such as "manager" does not settle the question.

State exemption tests can differ from federal tests. Employers should apply every law that covers the work rather than relying only on payroll method or title.

An employer may require advance approval before overtime is worked. Even so, covered work must be paid when the employer required it, allowed it, or knew or should have known it was happening.

The employer may address a violation of its scheduling policy separately, but it cannot accept compensable work and then erase the hours from payroll.