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New Hampshire overtime rules

New Hampshire has its own overtime law — time and a half after 40 hours — but it exempts employers already covered by federal law, so federal overtime governs most jobs in practice.

Verified against the US Department of Labor.

Your week

Decimal (46.5) or hours and minutes (46:30).

Attendance, production, safety bonuses and shift differentials count. Gifts and reimbursements do not.

What you are owed

Regular rate of payBase rate plus bonus, per hour
$25.26
Straight time40.00 hrs at the regular rate
$1,010.43
Overtime6.00 hrs at 1.5×
$227.35
Double timeNone this week
$0.00
Total gross$1,237.78
Your overtime rate is higher than your hourly rate$9.78 more Your regular rate of pay is $25.26, so your overtime rate is $37.89, not $33.00. Paying overtime at $33.00 would leave you $9.78 short this week.

The rule in New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, 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.

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

New Hampshire, 46 hours with a $150 production bonus.Your overtime is not 1.5 × $22. The bonus is spread across all 46 hours first, lifting your regular rate to $25.26, which makes your overtime rate $37.89 instead of $33.00. Paying overtime at $33.00 would leave you $9.78 short for the week.

Common mistakes employers make in New Hampshire

  • Sending a worker home unpaid after calling them in. New Hampshire requires at least two hours' pay for an employee who reports to work at the employer's request.
  • Working someone more than five hours straight with no meal break. New Hampshire requires 30 minutes, unless the employee can eat while working and the employer allows it — and that time is then paid.
  • Charging for a logo uniform or taking its cost out of final pay. A required garment carrying a logo must be provided free, and cannot be deducted from the last paycheck.

Other New Hampshire pay rules worth knowing

  • Final paycheck if fired: Within 72 hours.
  • If you quit: By your next regularly scheduled payday. The date depends on your pay schedule, not on when you left.
  • Unused PTO: Vacation, severance, personal days, holiday and sick pay count as wages in New Hampshire when they are a matter of employment practice or policy — so where the policy provides them, they are due with your final pay.
  • Late final pay: Liquidated damages of 10% of the unpaid wages for each day except Sundays and legal holidays the payment is late, up to an amount equal to the unpaid wages.

New Hampshire final paycheck law and deadline calculator →

New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire have its own overtime law?

Yes. The New Hampshire wage law requires time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek — the same threshold as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, with no daily rule. Where both laws apply you get whichever is more generous, so in practice the 40-hour weekly rule governs.

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

  1. 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.
  2. Ask your employer in writing to correct the pay. Email beats a conversation because it creates a dated record.
  3. File a wage claim — File a wage claim with the New Hampshire Department of Labor within 36 months of the wages becoming due — a wage claim, not the informal wage complaint, is what produces a decision and an order to pay. It is free, and you do not need a lawyer.
  4. 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? Maine overtime rules and Massachusetts overtime rules.