When does overtime start in Louisiana?

Louisiana's verified weekly overtime threshold in the registry is 40 hours in a workweek for covered nonexempt employees. Some workers and employers may be exempt, and federal law may also apply.

Does Louisiana have daily overtime?

Louisiana's verified overtime registry does not list a statewide daily overtime trigger. The calculator therefore uses the weekly workweek rule and does not add overtime merely because one shift was longer than eight or twelve hours.

Can daily, weekly, or seventh-day premiums stack in Louisiana?

No. This calculator assigns an hour the single highest applicable overtime premium. It does not pay both a daily and weekly premium on the same hour, which avoids double-counting while still preserving the more protective verified trigger.

What does this Louisiana overtime calculator not decide?

It does not decide exempt status, whether the employer is covered by the FLSA or state law, how a bonus must be allocated across multiple workweeks, or whether a special industry rule, collective-bargaining agreement, public contract, or local ordinance changes the result.

Louisiana Overtime Calculator

State

StateAll Louisiana tools

Louisiana has no independent state overtime law; covered workers use the federal FLSA overtime rule after 40 hours in a workweek, with the state source linked here confirming the state-law posture. — Source

Calculate Louisiana overtime pay

Enter one workweek. The calculator uses straight-time pay for all hours, then adds only the extra overtime premium for hours that qualify.

Louisiana overtime rule used by this calculator

Louisiana has no independent state overtime law in the verified registry source, so covered workers use the federal FLSA weekly-40 overtime rule. The page cites the state source that establishes that posture instead of implying a separate state rule exists.

Basic formula

straight-time pay = total hours × hourly rate regular rate = (straight-time pay + includable pay) ÷ total hours overtime premium = premium hours × regular rate × (1.5 − 1) gross pay = straight-time pay + includable pay + overtime premium

Worked example

Louisiana: weekly overtime only

45 hours at a single hourly rate weekly overtime hours = 45 − 40overtime premium = premium hours × regular rate × (1.5 − 1)

What this does not determine

Whether the worker is exempt from overtime under state law or the federal FLSA.
Whether the employer is covered by the FLSA, which matters especially when a state rule reaches only non-FLSA employers.
Multi-rate weighted-average regular-rate issues beyond the single additional-pay field.
Public works, prevailing wage, local ordinances, union contracts, agriculture, transportation, or other industry-specific rules.
Whether a bonus or commission must be allocated to a different workweek.

Sources and verification

This page reads the overtime threshold, multiplier, special daily/seventh-day flags, coverage cautions, and source URL from src/data/states.json. The visible source for this page is the verified registry source. Automated tests cover the state's distinctive branch, weekly math, non-stacking of premium hours, and visible result rendering.

Louisiana overtime law: a pure-FLSA state with a statute that prohibits local wage ordinances

Louisiana stands out among no-state-minimum-wage states in an unusual way: it is the only state whose relevant wage statute actively prohibits local minimum wage ordinances. La. R.S. § 23:642 expressly forbids local governments from enacting wage floors above the federal minimum. This means no Louisiana parish or municipality can set a higher minimum wage, unlike cities in California or Washington that can exceed the state floor.

For overtime, Louisiana has no state overtime statute. All overtime rights depend on 29 U.S.C. § 207 — the federal FLSA requiring time-and-a-half after 40 hours. Louisiana workers who have an overtime complaint must go to the Louisiana Workforce Commission (laworks.net) for state wage matters (final pay, for instance, is governed by La. R.S. 23:631 — the Final Pay Act), or to the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division for FLSA overtime violations.

How does Louisiana compare to its neighbors? Neighboring Arkansas has a $11.00 state minimum wage applying to employers with four or more employees (Arkansas Code § 11-4-211) and a state overtime provision within that same statute. Louisiana has no state minimum wage and no state overtime law — making it, along with Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee, one of only five states in that position. Texas, to the west, also uses the federal FLSA exclusively for overtime, but Texas Labor Code § 62.0515 preempts local wage ordinances through a statutory provision rather than the kind of direct prohibition that Louisiana's § 23:642 represents.

Who is covered in Louisiana? The federal FLSA enterprise test applies: employers with $500,000 or more in annual gross volume of sales or business, hospitals, schools, and public agencies are typically covered. The fact that Louisiana has no state overtime statute means the FLSA's own exemptions and coverage tests are the only framework. Workers at small employers below the enterprise threshold who are not engaged in interstate commerce individually may have no overtime right under either state or federal law.

Common questions

Does Louisiana have a state overtime law?

No. Louisiana has neither a state minimum wage statute nor a state overtime statute. All overtime rights in Louisiana come from the federal FLSA — time-and-a-half after 40 hours. La. R.S. § 23:642 is Louisiana's most relevant wage statute, but it prohibits local minimum wage ordinances rather than creating an overtime rule.

Can Louisiana cities or parishes set their own overtime rules?

No. La. R.S. § 23:642 expressly bars local governments from enacting wage ordinances above the federal floor. This is unusual — most states either allow local ordinances or are silent on the question. Louisiana is the only state with a statute that affirmatively prohibits local wage floors, so no parish can create overtime protections that exceed the FLSA.

Where do I file an overtime complaint in Louisiana?

FLSA overtime claims go to the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division. The Louisiana Workforce Commission (laworks.net) handles state wage matters like final paycheck disputes under La. R.S. 23:631, but it has no overtime enforcement authority because Louisiana has no state overtime statute.

How does Louisiana overtime compare to neighboring Arkansas?

Arkansas enacted its own state overtime provision through Arkansas Code § 11-4-211, which applies to employers with four or more employees and requires time-and-a-half after 40 hours — giving Arkansas workers both a state and a federal remedy. Louisiana workers have only the federal FLSA. If a Louisiana employer is too small for FLSA coverage and not subject to individual interstate commerce coverage, the worker has no overtime right at all.