Overtime is any time you work beyond your normal contracted hours. What you get paid for it depends entirely on your contract. There's no legal right to extra pay for overtime in the UK, but many employers pay an enhanced rate, and this calculator handles the common ones.
The usual rates are time and a half (1.5 times your normal hourly rate) and double time (2 times). Some contracts pay a smaller uplift like 1.25 times, and some pay your normal rate for extra hours. Pick the one that matches your contract above.
Say you earn £15 an hour and work 5 hours of overtime at time and a half. Your overtime rate is £15 x 1.5 = £22.50 an hour. Five hours gives £112.50 of gross overtime pay for that week. Over a year, 5 hours a week comes to about £5,850 of extra gross pay on top of your base salary.
What lands in your pocket is less, because overtime is taxed like the rest of your income. For a basic-rate taxpayer that's 20% Income Tax and 8% National Insurance, so you keep roughly 72p in the pound. The calculator works out the exact take-home based on your total earnings.
This is the question that catches people out. Overtime isn't taxed at a special rate. It's added to your normal pay and taxed at whatever your usual rate is. The reason it can feel like you're taxed more is that the extra income can tip part of your earnings over the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, where the rate jumps from 20% to 40%. Only the slice above the threshold is taxed at 40%, not your whole income.
Your employer can decide the overtime rate, but there's one floor: your average pay across all the hours you actually work can't drop below the National Minimum Wage. If a lot of your hours are paid at your normal rate rather than an enhanced one, it's worth checking your average still clears the minimum for your age band.
Want the full breakdown including student loan and pension on your total pay? Use the salary calculator. To convert between an hourly rate and an annual salary, try the hourly wage calculator.
The questions people ask most about overtime and tax.
Your normal hourly rate times the overtime rate, times the hours. Time and a half is 1.5x your rate, double time is 2x. On £15 an hour, 5 hours at time and a half is £15 x 1.5 x 5 = £112.50 gross.
No special rate. Overtime is added to your normal pay and taxed at your usual rate. It only feels higher if the extra income pushes part of your pay into the 40% band, and even then only the slice above £50,270 is taxed at 40%.
Being paid 1.5 times your normal hourly rate for overtime hours. On £12 an hour, time and a half is £18 an hour. Double time is 2x, so £24.
No. There's no legal right to overtime pay in the UK; it depends on your contract. But your average pay across all hours worked can't fall below the National Minimum Wage.
A basic-rate taxpayer keeps about 72p per extra £1 (after 20% tax and 8% NI). A higher-rate taxpayer keeps about 58p (40% tax, 2% NI). The calculator shows your exact figure.
Tax and National Insurance figures use confirmed 2026/27 HMRC rates.
Estimates based on 2026/27 tax rates, assuming tax code 1257L, England/Wales/NI, no student loan or pension. For general information, not financial advice.