The rule in Maryland
In Maryland, 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.
Bowling alleys and residential care
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 Maryland
- Applying the 48-hour threshold outside bowling alleys and non-hospital residential care institutions. Maryland's own labor department also warns that federal law may still require overtime after 40 hours in those two settings.
- Assuming farm work never earns overtime. Maryland requires it after 60 hours a week for agricultural workers who are exempt from the federal rule.
- Forfeiting unused vacation without having told the employee at hire. In Maryland unused earned vacation is payable unless a written policy limiting it was given when the employee was hired.
Other Maryland 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: Unused earned vacation is payable unless your employer has a written policy limiting it and told you about that policy when you were hired. Without such a policy you are entitled to its cash value.
- Late final pay: If wages are still unpaid 2 weeks after they were due, you can sue. Where there was no bona fide dispute, the court may award up to 3 times the wages plus attorney's fees (LE § 3-507.2).
Maryland final paycheck law and deadline calculator →
Maryland 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 Maryland 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 Maryland's 48-hour rule apply to me?
Only if you work for a bowling establishment, or for an institution that is not a hospital and mainly cares for residents who are aged, sick, or have a mental disorder or intellectual disability. Even then, Maryland's labor department warns that federal law can still require overtime after 40 hours, so the lower threshold often wins.
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 Maryland Department of Labor, Division of Labor and Industry, or sue once 2 weeks have passed since the wages were due. 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: Connecticut, Hawaii and Kansas.
Work across a state line? Delaware overtime rules and Pennsylvania overtime rules.