· ReadyStack
Worked example
Real numbers from this tool, line by line.
A US employer that reclassifies four 1099 contractors, each paid $1,600 a week for 50 hours, owes $122,880.00 in FLSA overtime back wages and liquidated damages. Here is the working from the free calculator on this page:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Regular rate: $1,600 ÷ 50 hours | $32.00 |
| Half-time on 10 overtime hours a week | $160.00 |
| 2-year lookback: 96 workweeks, per worker | $15,360.00 |
| Back wages, 4 workers | $61,440.00 |
| Liquidated damages, equal amount | $61,440.00 |
| Back wages + liquidated damages | $122,880.00 |
Each further week the four stay on contractor invoices adds $1,280.00.
Why it is half-time, not time-and-a-half
A contractor on a straight hourly rate, a day rate or a flat weekly fee has already been paid for every hour, including the hours over 40. The FLSA regular rate is total pay divided by total hours (29 CFR 778.109). For pay that already covers all hours, only the extra half of that rate is still owed for each overtime hour (29 CFR 778.111 and 778.112). A free overtime calculator that multiplies by 1.5 prices the wrong debt, and it prices one week instead of two years.
How far back it reaches
Under 29 U.S.C. 255(a) a claim reaches back 2 years, or 3 years if the violation was willful. Set the willful switch to 1 in the sample and the lookback grows from 96 to 120 workweeks. Back wages rise to $76,800.00, and the total with liquidated damages becomes $153,600.00. A willful or repeated violation of section 207 also carries a civil penalty of up to $2,515 each (29 CFR 579.1(a)(2)(i)). Counted once per worker, that is up to $10,060 more.
Why the number doubles
Under 29 U.S.C. 216(b) the employer owes the unpaid overtime plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. A court can reduce that only if the employer shows good faith and reasonable grounds (29 U.S.C. 260). The calculator shows both halves separately, so you can see what a good-faith defence is worth.
A day-rate crew changes the picture
Take one crew lead paid $300 a day for six days ($1,800 a week) who works 60 hours, engaged for 18 months. The regular rate is $30.00, 20 overtime hours give $300.00 a week, and 72 workweeks in the lookback give $21,600.00 back wages. With liquidated damages the total is $43,200.00. Someone on $2,000 a week for 40 hours owes $0.00, because there is no overtime to repay.
The test is changing, the maths is not
On 27 February 2026 the Department of Labor proposed a new test for who is an independent contractor under the FLSA, the FMLA and the MSPA (91 FR 9932, docket WHD-2026-0001). Comments closed on 28 April 2026. The 2024 rule in 29 CFR part 795 is still the text on the books. The test decides who is an employee. Once someone is, the back-pay arithmetic above applies either way.
What you type, and what you keep
The page asks for five numbers about your own workers: how many, weekly pay, weekly hours, weeks a year and months engaged. All 11 results appear in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and nothing is held back.
The $21 workbook is the record. It has the same 11 formulas, a 50-row ledger where each worker has their own start date, pay and hours, and an 8-step correction checklist with the rule behind each step.
Not covered: payroll taxes, state overtime and state lookback periods, overtime-exempt salaried roles, and interest.
15 seconds — what it actually does
Questions people ask
What does this FLSA back pay calculator work out?
It prices the overtime you owe once a worker you paid as a contractor is treated as an employee under the FLSA. It finds the regular rate from weekly pay and hours, owes half of it for every hour over 40, counts the weeks inside the 2-year or 3-year willful lookback, then adds equal liquidated damages and the civil penalty cap.
Who is this calculator for?
HR and payroll managers, controllers and owners of US companies that paid people as 1099 contractors for more than 40 hours a week at a straight hourly, day or weekly rate, and now have to reclassify them, answer a Wage and Hour Division audit, or price a settlement before a lawyer or the DOL does it for them.
Why not use a free overtime calculator?
Free overtime calculators multiply the hourly rate by 1.5 for the current week. A reclassified contractor was already paid straight time for every hour, so only the half-time premium is owed, and the debt reaches back 2 or 3 years under 29 U.S.C. 255 and doubles with liquidated damages under 29 U.S.C. 216(b). Those three rules decide the real number.
What is free and what costs money?
The web calculator is free and complete: type your own workers, pay, hours, weeks and months engaged and you see every result, with nothing blurred or held back. The $21 workbook is for keeping a record: a 50-row ledger where each worker gets their own start date and pay, plus a dated correction checklist to file with the case.
What does getting this wrong cost?
Under 29 U.S.C. 216(b) the employer owes the unpaid overtime plus an equal amount as liquidated damages unless a court finds good faith under 29 U.S.C. 260. Repeated or willful overtime violations can add a civil penalty of up to $2,515 each under 29 CFR 579.1, and willfulness stretches the lookback from 2 to 3 years.
Ask about this tool
One question, answered by the person who built it. Your email only if you want the answer sent.