Texas has no state OT law. The federal FLSA 40-hour rule controls.
Unlike California's daily OT, Colorado's 12-hour consecutive rule, or New York's spread-of-hours, Texas has no state-level overtime statute. All Texas OT obligations flow through the federal Fair Labor Standards Act: 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a fixed workweek. Simpler than California — but the regular-rate calculation still trips up most employers.
Federal Weekly Overtime
Tracks running weekly hours toward the 40-hour federal OT threshold. Calculates the 'regular rate' including non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions. Pays 1.5× automatically.
What those rules do as a workweek crosses 40 hours.
The hero card configuration: Avoid at 36 hours scheduled, Critical on payroll close, Flag on the timesheet. Here's what each does at runtime.
When a worker's scheduled hours plus a pending shift would push past 36 hours, the manager sees a yellow indicator: "Adding this trends past weekly OT." Save proceeds, exposure logged.
On payroll close, any worker whose week exceeded 40 hours surfaces with a Critical indicator and the calculated premium. Close requires explicit confirmation.
Hours past 40 in a workweek auto-tag as Weekly OT. Payroll sees the tag and applies 1.5× the regular rate automatically.
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Forty hours in a fixed seven-day workweek — federal only.
Texas has no state OT statute, so federal FLSA controls. The simplicity at the threshold level (only weekly OT, no daily or consecutive rules) hides complexity in regular-rate calculation.
Workweek is fixed and recurring
A workweek is any fixed, recurring 168-hour period (7 × 24). The employer designates the start day and time but cannot shift it to evade OT obligations. Different workweeks per worker are allowed (common in healthcare staffing where workweeks differ by shift type) but each must remain consistent.
Regular rate isn't always the hourly rate
The 'regular rate' includes all remuneration except specific statutory exclusions: non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, commissions, and certain incentive pay all factor in. Calculating the regular rate wrong is the #1 source of FLSA OT lawsuits. A worker earning $15/hr base plus a $1/hr shift differential plus a $50 weekly attendance bonus has a regular rate higher than $15 — and OT is calculated on that higher number.
Teambridge tracks the workweek and calculates the true regular rate.
The hard part of FLSA OT in Texas isn't the 40-hour threshold — it's getting the regular rate right when a worker has a base rate plus differentials, bonuses, or commissions.
36-hour line shows up early.
When a manager schedules a shift that would push a worker past 36 weekly hours, an Avoid indicator surfaces. Manager can proceed or redistribute.
Hours follow the worker.
If a worker has shifts at multiple of your locations, Teambridge aggregates the hours under one workweek total. The OT calculation considers everywhere the worker clocks, not just the one site.
All earnings rolled in.
When OT is owed, Teambridge calculates the regular rate including base wages, shift differentials, non-discretionary bonuses, and commissions earned in the workweek. The 1.5× premium applies to the true regular rate, not just the base hourly.
Pay-period boundaries don't matter.
When a workweek crosses into a new pay period (common with semi-monthly pay schedules), Teambridge keeps the OT calculation tied to the workweek, not the pay period. Premium lands on whichever paycheck contains the OT hours.
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