Filling it in
- Hourly rate: if you're paid a day rate, divide it by the hours it guarantees. A $425 day for 10 hours is $42.50 an hour.
- Hours worked: call to wrap, less unpaid meal time. Use tenths if your time card does.
- Guaranteed hours: if you work fewer, the tool pays the guarantee instead.
- Time and a half after, and double time after: the thresholds from your agreement or state law.
- Day: regular, sixth day in the workweek, or seventh day.
The four result cards show the day's gross and each band's hours and pay.
The formula
Hours paid = the greater of hours worked and guaranteed hours. Those hours are split into bands:
| Band | Hours | Pay on a regular day |
|---|---|---|
| Straight time | up to the first threshold | rate × 1 |
| Time and a half | between the thresholds | rate × 1.5 |
| Double time | past the second threshold | rate × 2 |
On a sixth day, straight hours are paid at 1.5x and the other bands stay at 1.5x and 2x. On a seventh day every hour is paid at 2x. The tool always uses whichever multiplier is higher, so overtime hours never get paid less on a premium day.
Worked example with the defaults
The tool opens at $42.50 an hour, 13.5 hours worked, an 8-hour guarantee, time and a half after 8, double time after 12, on a regular day.
- Straight time: 8 hours × $42.50 = $340.00
- Time and a half: 4 hours × $63.75 = $255.00
- Double time: 1.5 hours × $85.00 = $127.50
- Gross for the day: $722.50
Change the day to sixth day and the first 8 hours go to $63.75, adding $170 for a gross of $892.50. On a seventh day all 13.5 hours pay $85, which is $1,147.50.
That 13.5-hour day is ordinary on a feature: a 7:00 AM call, 30 minutes for lunch, and a 9:00 PM wrap. Budgeting it as $42.50 × 13.5 = $573.75 would undercount by almost $150 per person, and on a 22-person crew that's more than $3,000 a day.
Where the defaults come from, and where they stop
The 8 and 12 hour thresholds follow California's daily overtime rule. The California Labor Commissioner's FAQ describes time and a half for hours over 8 up to 12 in a workday and double time over 12. For the seventh consecutive day, though, the state rule is time and a half for the first 8 hours and double time after 8. The tool's seventh-day option pays every hour at double time, which matches many union and negotiated deals but is more than the state minimum. If the state rule is what you're held to, work that day by hand: the first 8 hours at 1.5x and every hour after at 2x.
Other limits:
- Weekly overtime. California and federal law also count hours past 40 in a workweek. The tool looks at one day only.
- Golden time, the premium tier under union agreements once a day passes a set elapsed hour.
- Meal penalties, which are separate payments. Use the meal penalty calculator.
- Guarantees above the first threshold. A 12-hour guarantee is entered as 12 guaranteed hours, and the tool pays hours 9 through 12 at time and a half. Flat deals are sometimes written differently, so read the deal memo.
- Fringes, kit rental, and per diem, which are paid on top of the gross.
- Exempt or salaried staff, who may not be paid hourly overtime at all.
Union agreements set their own daily and weekly rules, including premiums for sixth and seventh days. Enter your agreement's thresholds, and look up the minimum hourly scale with the crew rate lookup.
More on crew pay
The overtime glossary entry explains federal, state, and union overtime together. Film crew time cards covers how hours get recorded and approved, and film crew day rates covers what a day rate usually includes.