The rule in Iowa
In Iowa, 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: “No state overtime provision listed. FLSA governs.”
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 Iowa
- Paying the training wage past 90 days. Iowa allows $6.35 an hour only for the first 90 calendar days with that employer, after which the full rate is due.
- Waiting for a city minimum wage. Iowa bars cities and counties from setting their own, and voided the local ordinances that existed before 30 March 2017.
- Sending an unpaid overtime complaint to the state. Iowa's wage claim office takes only claims under $6,500 filed within a year; overtime itself goes to the US Department of Labor.
Other Iowa pay rules worth knowing
- Final paycheck if fired: By your next regularly scheduled payday. The date depends on your pay schedule, not on when you were let go.
- Unused PTO: Vacation, holiday, sick and severance pay count as wages in Iowa when an agreement or employer policy provides them. Where vacation accrues across the year, you are owed the share matching the part of the year you actually worked.
- Late final pay: Where the failure to pay was intentional, Iowa adds liquidated damages of 5% of the unpaid wages for each day they stay unpaid, skipping Sundays, legal holidays and the first 7 days after the payday, capped at the amount of the wages themselves, plus court costs and attorney's fees (Iowa Code § 91A.2(6), § 91A.8).
Iowa final paycheck law and deadline calculator →
Iowa 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 Iowa 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.
Does Iowa have its own overtime law?
No. Iowa has no state overtime provision, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets the rule: time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek, with no daily limit. The federal law covers most employers — any business with $500,000 or more in annual sales, plus hospitals, schools and government agencies.
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 claim with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing for amounts up to $6,500; the director cannot accept a claim more than one year after the wages became due. You may also sue instead. 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 follow the 40-hour weekly rule with nothing added: Alabama, Arizona and Delaware.
Work across a state line? Illinois overtime rules and Minnesota overtime rules.