Hourly Rate

Hourly Rate paystub meaning: The dollars-per-hour figure your regular hours are multiplied by - which is not always the rate your overtime has to be based on.

The dollars-per-hour figure your regular hours are multiplied by - which is not always the rate your overtime has to be based on.

Your hourly rate is the figure printed beside your regular hours: hours times rate makes the earnings line. Payroll usually stores it to four decimal places, so $18.40 may print as $18.4000, and a single stub can show two rates when a raise took effect mid-period. The federal floor is $7.25 an hour, unchanged since 24 July 2009. Many states and cities require more. As of 1 July 2026 the Department of Labor's consolidated table lists California at $16.90, Washington at $17.13, New York at $17.00 or $16.00 depending on region, and Florida at $14.00, while Texas and Georgia set no state minimum, so employers covered by federal law there pay $7.25. Where both apply, the higher rate governs. Tipped workers — those who customarily receive more than $30 a month in tips — can be paid a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour if tips make up the difference; the maximum tip credit is $5.12, being $7.25 minus $2.13, and the employer covers any shortfall. The printed rate is not always the rate that counts. For overtime, federal law uses the regular rate: total pay for the workweek divided by hours worked, including shift differentials, nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions and piece-rate earnings. A $20.00 base with a night differential produces an overtime rate above $30.00. Salaried non-exempt workers have a regular rate too, derived from the salary. Minimum rates change most years and vary by city. Check the DOL pages and your state labor department for the figure that applies to you.

Earnings lines should identify the applicable rate, hours or units, current amount, and year-to-date total. Reconcile them with time records, the pay period, the employment agreement, and the employer-issued statement.

When this term appears on a statement, read its label, current amount, year-to-date amount, pay-period context, and any adjacent rate or hours together. Resolve a mismatch with the original issuer or the cited authority rather than changing a record to force a preferred result.