Georgia Overtime Laws for Hourly Employees (2026)

The rule

	Georgia
Weekly threshold	Over 40 hours worked in a workweek (a fixed, recurring 168-hour period)
Daily threshold	None. A long day is not overtime unless the week passes 40 hours
Rate	At least 1.5 times the employee's regular rate of pay for the hours over 40
Who is covered	Nonexempt employees of covered employers under the federal FLSA
Common exemptions	Executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales employees who meet the federal duties and salary tests
Georgia rule	Georgia has no separate overtime statute for private employers. The federal rule is the rule.

What the federal rule requires

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires covered, nonexempt employees to be paid at least time and a half their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek. The workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour days; it can start on any day, but it cannot move around to avoid overtime.

There is no daily overtime under federal law. Work on a weekend, holiday, or night shift is paid at the regular rate unless the week's hours go past 40. The FLSA also sets no limit on how many hours an employee 16 or older may work in a week.

The regular rate is not always the hourly wage. Nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions are folded in before the 1.5 multiplier is applied, which is why a bonus paid in a week with overtime raises the overtime rate for that week.

What Georgia law does and does not add

The Georgia Department of Labor's employer FAQ on the Fair Labor Standards Act states the requirement in federal terms: overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at 1.5 times the regular rate, with executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales employees generally exempt. It directs employers to the U.S. Department of Labor for guidance and enforcement. Georgia adds no daily threshold, no seventh-day rule, and no state overtime remedy.

Worked example: a 10-person cleaning company

A cleaner paid $16 an hour works 8, 8, 8, 8, and 8 hours, then picks up a 6-hour Saturday move-out job: 46 hours in the workweek.

Saturday is not overtime because it is Saturday. It is overtime because it takes the week from 40 to 46.
40 hours at $16: $640. 6 hours at $24 (1.5 times $16): $144. Gross: $784.
Had the manager moved one weekday shift to the next workweek before it was worked, the total would have stayed at 40 with no overtime. After the hours are worked, they must be paid at the overtime rate.

How to track it

With no daily trigger, the only number that matters is each employee's running total inside your workweek, and the mistakes are the small ones: travel between client sites, the 10-minute setup before the first job, paid breaks that should have stayed on the clock.

ClockOut records punches with GPS at the job site, totals hours by the company's workweek, and shows week-to-date hours on every punch so the manager can see who is heading past 40 before Saturday is scheduled.

Georgia overtime FAQ

Does Georgia have daily overtime?

No. Georgia follows the federal FLSA, which counts overtime by the workweek only. A 12-hour shift is paid at the regular rate unless the employee's total for that week goes past 40 hours.

Do paid holidays, PTO, or sick days count toward the 40 hours?

No. Only hours actually worked count toward the federal 40-hour threshold. An employee who works 36 hours and takes 8 hours of paid holiday has 44 paid hours but no overtime, unless your own policy promises otherwise.

Can I give comp time instead of paying overtime?

Not in the private sector. Comp time in place of overtime pay is available only to public agencies under the FLSA. A private employer can adjust hours within the same workweek to keep the total at or under 40, but once the week is over the overtime is owed in cash.

Can employees waive overtime or agree to a flat weekly pay?

No. Overtime cannot be waived by agreement, and an announcement that unapproved overtime will not be paid does not cancel the obligation. Employers can discipline for working unapproved hours, but the hours still get paid at the overtime rate.

Sources, checked September 9, 2026

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the linked source.