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Do I get overtime after 40 hours in Florida?

Use the free tool — Wage Theft Letter

Do you get overtime after 40 hours in Florida?

Yes, if you are a non-exempt employee. Federal law (the FLSA) requires your employer to pay you 1.5 times your regular rate of pay for every hour you work over 40 in a single workweek. Florida has no separate overtime law of its own — this rule comes from federal law.

How overtime pay is worked out

Overtime is 1.5 times your regular hourly rate — not just your base pay. It counts hour-by-hour once you pass 40 hours in one workweek; it is not averaged across two weeks.

• If your employer already paid you straight time for those extra hours, the employer still owes you the unpaid half-time premium — not the full 1.5×.
• Your regular rate can't be below Florida's minimum wage: $14.00 an hour from September 30, 2025, rising to $15.00 on September 30, 2026 (tipped employees: $10.98 cash wage plus tips).

What if you're not sure you qualify

Some workers are labeled "exempt" (often salaried) or "independent contractor," and employers sometimes get this wrong. This guide cannot decide your status — a lawyer or the Wage and Hour Division does that. But some facts point toward you being an employee entitled to overtime:

• The employer sets your hours
• The employer provides your tools
• The employer controls how you do the work
• You work for one employer, not several clients

Even workers misclassified as contractors can still claim unpaid overtime and minimum wage.

How long do you have to claim it

Under federal law (FLSA), you can generally reach back two years — three years if the underpayment was willful. Every week that passes can drop off the back of that window, so it helps to act soon.

Before you sue: the written notice, and where to file

If your situation also involves being paid below Florida's minimum wage, Florida law requires you to send the employer a written notice first, listing the dates worked, the hours, and the amount you believe you're owed. The employer then has 15 calendar days to pay before you can sue.

The same kind of letter also works as a general demand for unpaid overtime, and sending it does not stop you from also filing a complaint with the federal Wage and Hour Division.

• U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division — 1-866-487-9243, dol.gov/agencies/whd. Free, confidential, any immigration status, any language.
• Some counties have their own wage-theft program — for example, Miami-Dade. Search your county's name plus "wage theft."
• Small-claims or county court.
• Free legal aid: floridalawhelp.org
• A worker center or union.

Wage rights apply no matter your immigration status, and no matter whether you were paid in cash.

What to do next

Write down every day and the hours you worked, from memory, as soon as you can. Keep any schedules, time sheets, texts, and pay stubs. Never sign anything saying you were paid in full without reading it first.

The free tool at Wage Theft Letter reads the hours, pay, and dates you enter and shows an estimate of what your employer likely owes you, the rule it breaks, and where to file — labeled as an estimate from the numbers you gave. The full version prepares the written notice Florida law requires, ready to send. Nothing you type is stored, and no account is required.

Wage Theft Letter is not a lawyer and can be wrong. The estimate uses only the numbers you give it. Confirm with free legal aid or the Wage and Hour Division before relying on it.

Wage Theft Letter explains pay rules in plain language and estimates from the numbers you enter; it can be wrong, and it is not legal advice. It does not decide whether you are an employee, exempt, or owed anything — the Wage and Hour Division, a court, or a lawyer does. Wage rights do not depend on immigration status. Free help: dol.gov/agencies/whd · floridalawhelp.org. Nothing you type is stored.