Overtime Settings in BambooHR

The article provides guidance on setting overtime calculations in BambooHR's Time & Attendance module. It explains the purpose of overtime settings, which allow customization based on U.S. and Canadian regulations or company-specific rules. Key sections include how to access and modify these settings, the calculation methods for standard and custom rules, and the importance of employee location for accurate overtime computation. The article also addresses exempt versus non-exempt status, the implications of changing employee classifications, and where to view overtime details in the system. Additionally, it outlines the concept of Qualified Overtime (QOT) and clarifies its calculation method. Users are encouraged to confirm employee locations to ensure proper overtime calculations.

  • Jul 2, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Overtime Settings in BambooHR
Article Text
Overtime tracking is available for time & attendance (formerly time tracking) customers.

Before you start

  • Product area: BambooHR Time & Attendance (overtime settings live inside time & attendance group settings).
  • Know your setup:
    • Whether you use multiple time & attendance groups.
    • Your workweek start day.
    • Whether employees locations include a U.S. state/territory or Canadian province (or whether they are set up as remote workers).

Overtime in Time & Attendance Settings

In BambooHR, overtime settings live within Time & Attendance group settings. To edit these settings, navigate to Settings > Time & Attendance, then open your time & attendance group settings. If you do not have multiple time & attendance groups, select the Settings tab.

How Overtime Calculation Works

Standard U.S. and Canada rules

  • Standard rules automatically calculate overtime based on U.S. state and federal regulations, and Canadian province regulations.
  • The employee's location (found on the Job tab in the Job Information table) determines which rules apply.

Custom rules

  • Use custom rules if employees work outside the U.S. and Canada or follow an alternate work schedule.
  • Custom rules apply to all employees in the time & attendance group and override standard rules.

Changes made to overtime calculations update immediately and apply retroactively to the beginning of the current pay period. 

If an Account Owner or Full Admin user edits an approved or past unapproved timesheet, the system recalculates overtime based on current overtime settings.

Custom Rules

If your employees work outside of the U.S. and Canada or follow an alternate work schedule, input your company's specific overtime rules. Time & Attendance applies these rules to all employees in the time & attendance group, overriding standard rules.

  • Daily Overtime - 1.5x the rate of pay for any hours worked over [x] hours in a day
  • Daily Double Overtime - 2x the rate of pay for any hours worked over [x] hours in a day
  • Weekly Overtime - 1.5x the rate of pay for any hours worked over [x] hours in a week
Daily + Daily Double + Weekly

If daily overtime hours (all hours paid at 1.5x and 2x regular rate) equal or exceed weekly overtime hours, employers must compensate the employee according to the daily overtime rules for that week. (Weekly overtime hours are already accounted for and paid.)

If weekly overtime hours exceed total daily overtime hours (all 1.5x and 2x regular rate) for that work week, the employer must pay all weekly overtime hours in addition to daily overtime. Employers must identify and pay any double-time hours required under daily overtime rules.

Work week

To calculate overtime, we must know the date and time when the work week starts and ends. In the United States, the most common work week begins on Sundays at 12:00 AM, but can be any consecutive 168 hours.

When setting up BambooHR Time & Attendance, determine the work week's start day. The default is set to Sunday.

If you edit the work week's start date after enabling Time & Attendance, a note indicates this change takes effect at the start of the next pay period. The next timesheet will show some days where the system cannot calculate overtime. Full Admin users must manually add overtime during the transition pay period.

Confirm Employees Have a Valid Location

Do you need help adding addresses to your locations? Learn how to do this here.

Employee location (Job Information)

  • To calculate overtime under standard rules, the employees location must include a U.S. state/territory or Canadian province.
  • If the business location is outside the U.S./Canada, or the address does not list a state/territory/province, BambooHR cannot calculate overtime for that location under standard rules.
Remote workers and personal address
  • If an employee works at a remote location (as determined in location setup), BambooHR uses the employees personal address to calculate overtime.
  • If the personal address does not list a U.S. state/territory (or is outside the U.S.), BambooHR cannot calculate overtime for the employee.
Employees without a state/province available
  • In Settings > Time & Attendance, the Location column indicates employees without an assigned U.S. state or Canadian province for overtime calculation.
  • You can still enable the employee, but overtime will not calculate until you assign a location with a listed state or province.
Exempt vs. Non-Exempt and Recalculations

Exempt employees

If the employees overtime status is "Exempt" in the Compensation table, BambooHR does not calculate overtime.

If an employee changes from exempt to non-exempt

Overtime does not automatically recalculate just because the employees status changes.

To trigger recalculation for a pay period, open a time entry and select Save (re-saving recalculates the pay period).

Salary, non-exempt (BambooHR Payroll customers)

BambooHR Payroll customers will see the two fields combined within the Compensation table for salary and non-exempt employees. This populates a new field that identifies the overtime rate for payroll syncing. 

Additionally, the system automatically calculates a "double time rate" based on the amount entered in the Overtime Rate field. The "double time rate" is for informational purposes only and is viewable when editing an employee's compensation information.

Where to See Overtime

On the employee's Timesheet tab

Overtime displays in these places:

  1. Daily graph: Days with overtime appear as an orange bar.
  2. Overtime total: Time summary shows total overtime for the pay period.
  3. Daily view: Shows the overtime total for a specific day.

Paid time off does not apply to overtime calculations (for example, PTO hours do not count as hours worked toward weekly overtime).

For approvers

  • Email notifications: If an employee has overtime hours, the timesheet approval email shows those overtime hours.
  • Employees timesheet: When approving on the employees Timesheet tab, overtime hours appear in the timesheet summary.
  • Payroll Hours report: When approving from the Payroll Hours report, overtime appears in the Overtime column.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is qualified overtime (QOT)?

Qualified overtime (QOT) is a separate attribute of approved time that identifies hours worked over 40 hours in a single FLSA workweek.

  • How its calculated: QOT counts only hours over 40 in the FLSA workweek.
  • What it does not use: QOT is calculated independently of:
    • state overtime laws
    • daily overtime rules
    • customer-configured overtime/premium policies
    • double-time classifications
  • What it does not change: QOT does not replace or modify regular hours, existing overtime hours, or earnings calculations.
  • What you will see if you have daily/state overtime but stay under 40 weekly hours: QOT will be 0.
  • Where the hours are attributed: QOT is attributed to the specific days on which it occurs.
  • Pay period crossing: If an FLSA workweek spans multiple pay periods, QOT is allocated to the appropriate pay period.
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