This article is part of the Ohio employment law reference. It explains when overtime pay is required in Ohio, which workers qualify, who is exempt, and how the one-and-one-half-times rate is figured. It covers private-sector employees. Public employees, agricultural workers, and certain drivers follow separate rules noted below.
When Ohio requires overtime pay
Ohio’s overtime rule is short. Under Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03, an employer must pay overtime at one and one-half times the employee’s wage rate for hours worked beyond 40 in one workweek, using the methods and exemptions of section 7 and section 13 of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The current version of the section took effect July 6, 2022.
The federal standard sets the same floor. The U.S. Department of Labor explains that covered, non-exempt employees must receive overtime for hours over 40 at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rate, a rule also written into 29 U.S.C. § 207. Ohio adds no daily overtime rule, no premium for weekends or holidays, and no requirement to pay extra for a sixth or seventh consecutive day. Overtime is owed only when weekly hours pass 40.
## Which employers and employees are covered
Not every Ohio employer is bound by the state overtime statute. Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03 excludes an employer whose annual gross volume of sales is less than $150,000. A worker for a smaller employer is not left without protection, because the federal overtime standard in 29 U.S.C. § 207 can still apply based on the employee’s own duties or the business’s connection to interstate commerce.
Coverage also depends on being an employee rather than an independent contractor. For wage and overtime purposes, Ohio gives the terms “employee,” “employer,” and “independent contractor” the same meaning as the Fair Labor Standards Act and gives great weight to how federal courts and the U.S. Department of Labor read them, under Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.14. That test looks at the economic reality of the relationship, so a label in a contract does not by itself decide the question.
Two groups sit outside the state overtime rule by statute. Agricultural workers are not covered by the overtime provision of Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03. And an owner-operator who drives for a motor carrier is treated as an independent contractor rather than an employee when a detailed list of conditions is met, including owning or leasing the vehicle, controlling the manner of the work, being paid by mileage or rate rather than by the hour, and bearing the operating costs.
## Who is exempt from overtime
The largest set of exemptions comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act and applies in Ohio through the same statute. Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03 excludes from the definition of “employee” any individual working as an outside salesperson paid by commission or employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity as those terms are defined by federal law. The federal exemptions themselves are listed in 29 U.S.C. § 213.
Being paid a salary does not, on its own, make a worker exempt. The federal white-collar exemptions turn on both a salary basis and the actual job duties, and the U.S. Department of Labor administers the salary and duties tests that decide whether an executive, administrative, or professional exemption applies. A salaried employee whose real duties do not fit an exemption is still owed overtime.
Misclassifying a non-exempt worker as exempt does not erase the obligation. When an employee treated as exempt does not meet the federal test, the unpaid overtime remains owed for the hours already worked over 40, computed under the same rules that apply to any covered employee.
## How overtime pay is calculated
Overtime is a premium on top of the employee’s regular rate, not a separate flat figure. The regular rate is an hourly figure that includes most nondiscretionary pay, such as shift differentials and production or attendance bonuses, spread across the hours worked, as set out in 29 U.S.C. § 207. A salaried non-exempt employee’s regular rate is found by converting the salary to an hourly equivalent for the workweek.
Set the workweek
Identify the fixed seven-day workweek the employer uses. Overtime is calculated within that single week, and hours from two different weeks cannot be combined or averaged, per the U.S. Department of Labor.
Total the hours actually worked
Add every hour worked in that workweek, including short paid rest breaks that count as work time. The hours above 40 are the overtime hours for the week.
Find the regular rate
Divide the total straight-time pay for the week, including most nondiscretionary bonuses, by the total hours worked. The result is the regular hourly rate that federal law uses as the base for overtime under 29 U.S.C. § 207.
Apply the one-and-one-half multiplier
Multiply the regular rate by 1.5, then multiply that premium rate by the number of overtime hours. That figure is the overtime pay owed for the week under
Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03.
Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.031, an employer generally need not pay overtime for time an employee spends traveling to and from the actual place of work, for activities that are preliminary or postliminary to the main job, or for insubstantial periods beyond scheduled hours.
Those same activities do count when one of three things is true: the employee performs them during the regular workday or prescribed hours, performs them at the employer’s specific direction, or performs them under a written or unwritten contract or an established custom at the workplace, again under Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.031. The line often decides whether pre-shift setup or post-shift cleanup adds to the weekly total.
Short rest breaks are treated as work time and count toward the 40-hour threshold, while a bona fide meal period during which the worker is fully relieved of duties does not. How Ohio and federal rules handle break time is covered in the guide to Ohio break laws.
## Mandatory overtime and unpaid-overtime claims
Ohio does not cap the hours an adult employee can be scheduled. The U.S. Department of Labor notes that the Fair Labor Standards Act places no limit on the number of hours an employee 16 or older may work in a week, so an employer can generally require overtime as a condition of the job. What the law controls is the pay, not the schedule: required overtime hours over 40 are still paid at one and one-half times the regular rate.
When overtime goes unpaid, Ohio law provides a way to recover it. An employee, or the attorney general on the employee’s behalf, may bring a civil action for a wage violation within three years, and damages are set at an additional two times the amount of the back wages, under Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.14. Unpaid-wage complaints can also be filed with the Bureau of Wage and Hour Administration in the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Ohio and federal law also protect workers who raise these issues. An employer that fires someone for filing a wage complaint or asserting an overtime right can face a retaliation claim, one of the limited situations described in when a firing is wrongful termination in Ohio.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ohio have its own overtime law or just the federal rule?
Both. Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03 requires one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek and adopts the exemptions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The federal standard in 29 U.S.C. § 207 sets the same floor, so most Ohio workers are covered by one or both.
Is there daily overtime in Ohio after eight hours?
No. Ohio overtime is based on the workweek, not the day. Working more than eight hours in a day does not trigger overtime by itself; the premium applies only once total hours pass 40 in the seven-day workweek, as the U.S. Department of Labor describes for the federal standard Ohio follows.
Can a salaried employee still get overtime in Ohio?
Yes, in many cases. A salary alone does not make a worker exempt. The executive, administrative, and professional exemptions in 29 U.S.C. § 213 require both a salary basis and specific job duties. A salaried employee whose duties do not meet the test is entitled to overtime for hours over 40.
Can an Ohio employer force employees to work overtime?
Generally yes. The Fair Labor Standards Act places no limit on weekly hours for employees 16 and older, so an employer can require overtime. The hours must still be paid at one and one-half times the regular rate when they exceed 40 under Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03.
How long does an employee have to claim unpaid overtime in Ohio?
A civil action for a wage violation can be brought within three years, with damages of an additional two times the back wages, under Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.14. A complaint can also be filed with the Bureau of Wage and Hour Administration at the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Sources
- Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.03 (Overtime)
- Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.031 (Exemptions from overtime requirements)
- Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.14 (Implementing constitutional minimum wage authority; enforcement)
- 29 U.S.C. § 207 (Fair Labor Standards Act overtime)
- 29 U.S.C. § 213 (FLSA exemptions)
- U.S. Department of Labor: Overtime Pay