The Tennessee overtime rule this calculator models
Tennessee has no independent private-sector daily overtime rule; the verified state source points workers to the federal FLSA weekly-40 overtime rule, and this calculator uses that weekly threshold. The calculator pays straight time for all entered hours, then adds the overtime premium only for hours above the verified threshold. That structure prevents stacking two overtime premiums on the same hour.
Basic formula
Worked example
One weekly-overtime week
What this does not determine
- Whether the worker is exempt from state or federal overtime.
- Whether the employer is covered by the state rule, the federal FLSA, or both.
- Whether bonuses, commissions, multiple rates, or tip credits require a different regular-rate analysis.
- Whether public-sector, agricultural, retail, seasonal, collective-bargaining, or industry-specific exceptions apply.
- Whether a wage claim is timely or which agency process a worker should choose.
State-specific source notes
- Statute/source anchor: Tennessee labor-law referrals page and T.C.A. § 50-2-103 noted as a final-pay gap, not an overtime statute.
- Agency and wage-claim process: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. GAP — state pages direct overtime and minimum-wage questions to the U.S. Department of Labor, and the research did not verify a Tennessee wage-claim filing process.
- Neighbor contrast: Kentucky has an independent wage statute and a seventh-day premium rule; Tennessee has no state overtime law and relies on federal coverage.
Sources and verification
The threshold, multiplier, and source link are read from src/data/states.json. Values marked unverified render no calculator. The calculation was checked with a Node test for Tennessee covering no overtime, overtime above the weekly threshold, additional includable pay, nonnegative inputs, and visible DOM output. Primary source: Tennessee overtime source.
Tennessee overtime law: pure-FLSA with no proposed bill enacted through the 114th General Assembly
Tennessee has enacted no state minimum wage statute and no state overtime law. All proposed minimum wage bills — including HB 1399, SB 2495, SB 2670, and HB 0819 — have failed to pass through the Tennessee General Assembly. All overtime rights in Tennessee derive exclusively from 29 U.S.C. § 207. Tennessee is one of five states (along with Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina) that have never enacted wage legislation for private-sector employees.
Tennessee does have one state wage statute that affects final compensation: the Tennessee Wage Regulation Act (T.C.A. § 50-2-103) governs the timing of final paycheck payment. However, that act covers timing of wages that were already owed — it does not create overtime rights. A worker who is owed unpaid overtime must pursue that claim under the federal FLSA, not the Tennessee Wage Regulation Act.
Overtime complaints in Tennessee go to the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division because Tennessee has no state overtime authority.
How does Tennessee compare to its neighbors? Kentucky, to the north, has KRS 337.275 (independent state minimum wage statute adopting the federal rate) plus a distinctive seventh-consecutive-day overtime rule under KRS 337.050. North Carolina, to the east, has a full state Wage and Hour Act with NC DOL enforcement authority. Georgia and Alabama, to the south and west, also have no state overtime laws. The Tennessee-Kentucky border is one of the sharpest state-law contrasts in the region: a Tennessee worker crossing into Kentucky gains access to a state overtime statute and seventh-day rule that simply do not exist on the Tennessee side.