Calculating Overtime on Prevailing Wage Projects

Call 971-673-0838 or email pwremail@boli.state.or.us if you need help calculating overtime.

In all of these examples, overtime is being computed as though there is a five-day work schedule. Daily overtime is computed for hours worked after eight in a day.

If a contractor or subcontractor adopts a work schedule of four consecutive days, rather than five (Monday through Thursday, or Tuesday through Friday), daily overtime would be computed for hours worked after ten in a day, rather than eight. The following examples work for any situation:

Example 1:

John Doe worked on a public works contract during the period July 15 to July 31. Doe’s base rate of pay as determined by BOLI was $12.50 per hour. His fringe benefits amount to $3.50 for a total of $16.00 per hour. The contractor pays the fringe benefits to a trustee pursuant to a bona fide plan.

Week #1

Doe worked 10 hours on Friday, July 17 (two overtime hours). He did not work on Saturday or over 40 hours during the week. There were no holidays worked. The $3.50 per hour fringe benefit is not included with the hourly rate for overtime computation purposes. Doe’s earnings in Week #1 are, therefore:

Week #2

Doe worked 40 hours during the week, seven of which were hours worked over eight in one day (July 22 and July 23) and five of which were worked on Saturday, July 25 (total of 12 overtime hours). As in Week #1, fringe benefits are excluded from the overtime computation. Doe’s earnings in Week #2 are, therefore:

Week #3

Doe worked 50 hours during the week, eight of which were hours worked over eight per day and six of which were hours worked on Sunday, July 26, which is a holiday as defined in ORS 279C.540 (total of 14 overtime hours). As in Week #1, fringe benefits are excluded from the overtime computations. Doe’s earnings in Week #3 are, therefore:

Example 2:

Assume John Doe’s hours worked and fringe benefits paid were the same as in Example 1 above. Assume, however, that Doe’s hourly base rates varied because he was employed in more than one classification, as follows:

Week #1

Doe worked all of Wednesday and Thursday (July 15-16) at $12.50 per hour. On Friday, July 17, he worked seven hours at $12.50 per hour and three hours at $13.10 per hour. As required by OAR 839-025-0050(2)(b), because Doe worked two hours overtime on Friday and worked that day at two different rates, the weighted average of his base rates of pay must be calculated in order to compute his overtime rate for that day. Doe’s weekly earnings would be as follows:

*To calculate 1/2 the weighted average:

Week #2

Doe worked at $12.50 per hour, except four hours on Wednesday, July 22, where he worked at $11.75 per hour, and five hours on Saturday, July 25, at $12.10 per hour. Doe’s weekly earnings are as follows:

*To calculate 1/2 the weighted average on July 22:

**All work performed on Saturday, July 25, is overtime, as defined in ORS 279C.540. Therefore, Doe is paid overtime pay for the entire five hours that he worked.

Week #3

On Sunday, July 26, Doe worked six hours at $10.50 per hour. Since Sunday is a holiday as defined in ORS 279C.540, he is paid overtime for the entire day. Doe worked at $12.50 per hour on July 27-30. On each of those days, he worked two hours overtime, totaling eight hours of overtime pay. On July 31 he worked four hours at $11.00 per hour. Doe’s weekly earnings are as follows:

Example 3

For the example week ending November 3, John Doe worked a total of 61.5 hours. Thirty of the hours in the example week were non-PWR, worked at the rate of $9.50 per hour; 31.5 hours were PWR, earned at the base rate of $16.99, and fringe rate of $5.97 per hour. OAR 839-025-0050(2)(b) requires that when an employee works at multiple rates of pay and earns overtime, the overtime rate must be calculated using a weighted-average method based on all rates earned, as shown in this example.

† (($16.99/hr x .5) x 7.5 hours daily PWR OT
‡ ($5.97/hr x 31.5 PWR hours)