The rule in Connecticut
In Connecticut, hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate. There is no general daily limit, so a 12-hour day inside a 36-hour week earns no overtime.
The US Department of Labor's state table adds: “In restaurants and hotel restaurants, 7th consecutive day of work requires premium at 1.5x the minimum rate.”
Restaurants and hotel restaurants
In restaurants and hotel restaurants, 7th consecutive day of work requires premium at 1.5x the minimum rate.
What counts toward your regular rate
Overtime is 1.5 times your regular rate of pay: everything you earned for the week at straight time, divided by every hour you worked.
Counts
- Your hourly pay for every hour worked, at each rate you worked
- Non-discretionary bonuses — attendance, production, safety, or any bonus promised in advance
- Commissions
- Shift differentials for nights, weekends or hazardous work
Does not count
- Discretionary bonuses and gifts, where both the fact and the amount were up to the employer
- Expense reimbursements
- Pay for time not worked: vacation, holidays, sick days
A worked example
Common mistakes employers make in Connecticut
- Paying the seventh-day restaurant premium at the employee's own rate, or skipping it. The wage order sets 1.5 times the minimum rate for all time worked on the seventh consecutive day, separate from the ordinary 40-hour rule.
- Not paying for time an employee is required to wait at work. Connecticut counts time on the employer's premises, on duty or on call at a place the employer chooses as hours worked, even when no work is provided.
- Paying a discharged employee on the next payday. Connecticut requires payment in full by the business day after the discharge.
Other Connecticut pay rules worth knowing
- Final paycheck if fired: By the next business day.
- If you quit: By your next regularly scheduled payday. The date depends on your pay schedule, not on when you left.
- Unused PTO: Accrued vacation, holidays and sick days are owed at termination only if your employer's policy or union contract provides for payout. If it does, they are paid as wages at no less than your average rate for the accrual period.
- Late final pay: In a civil action you recover twice the full wages plus costs and attorney's fees; if the employer shows a good-faith belief it was complying with the law, the award is the wages themselves plus costs and fees (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-72).
Connecticut final paycheck law and deadline calculator →
Connecticut overtime: common questions
Does my employer have to pay overtime if they didn't approve it?
Yes. Time your employer knew you were working, or allowed you to work, counts as hours worked, whether or not anyone approved it in advance. An employer can discipline you for breaking an overtime policy, but it still has to pay overtime for those hours — in Connecticut as everywhere else under federal law.
Does my bonus change my overtime rate?
Yes, if the bonus is non-discretionary — promised for attendance, production, safety or hitting a target. It is added to your straight-time pay and divided by all the hours you worked, and your overtime is 1.5 times that higher rate. Discretionary gifts, expense reimbursements and paid time off are left out.
Do I get extra pay for a seventh day in a row in Connecticut?
Only in restaurants and hotel restaurants. There, state regulations require at least one and a half times the minimum wage for every hour worked on the seventh consecutive day, whatever your own hourly rate is. In every other Connecticut job there is no seventh-day premium, and the extra pay starts only once your hours pass 40 in the workweek.
What is a workweek, and can my employer change it?
A workweek is a fixed, recurring block of seven consecutive 24-hour days, and it can start on any day and at any hour. Overtime is counted per workweek, never averaged across two, even when you are paid every two weeks. Your employer can change the start day, but only permanently and not to avoid paying overtime.
If you think you were underpaid
- Keep your own record of the hours you worked — the time card calculator totals them and exports a CSV — plus photos of the posted schedule and messages about shifts.
- Ask your employer in writing to correct the pay. Email beats a conversation because it creates a dated record.
- File a wage claim — File a wage complaint with the Connecticut Department of Labor, Wage and Workplace Standards Division. Investigations cover the 2 years before the complaint. It is free, and you do not need a lawyer.
- Federal overtime claims must generally be brought within 2 years of the underpayment, or 3 years if the violation was willful.
Spotted something wrong? Report an error.
Other states that also add their own exception to the 40-hour rule: Hawaii, Kansas and Kentucky.
Work across a state line? New York overtime rules.