What time and a half actually means, how to calculate it for hourly and salaried staff, the bank holiday myth, and the rules that do apply. With a free calculator.
"Time and a half" is one of those phrases everyone uses and few people have checked. Employees assume they are owed it for Sundays, bank holidays or anything past eight hours. Employers assume it is a rule from somewhere. This guide gives the arithmetic, the law, and the handful of situations where it genuinely applies. General information, not legal advice; gov.uk and Acas are the authority.
Time and a half means the normal hourly rate multiplied by 1.5. Double time means multiplied by 2.
| Normal rate | Time and a half | Double time |
|---|---|---|
| £12.21 | £18.32 | £24.42 |
| £14.00 | £21.00 | £28.00 |
| £18.50 | £27.75 | £37.00 |
For someone on £14.00 an hour who does 40 normal hours and 5 at time and a half: 40 × £14.00 = £560.00, plus 5 × £21.00 = £105.00, total £665.00. The overtime premium, the extra above the normal rate, is £35.00 of that.
Salaried staff need an hourly rate first. The usual method is annual salary ÷ 52 ÷ contracted weekly hours. On £28,000 a year for 37.5 hours a week that is £14.36 an hour, so time and a half is £21.54.
There is no law in the UK that requires time and a half for overtime, weekends, nights or bank holidays. The enhanced rate exists only where the employment contract, a collective agreement or a stated company policy says so. If the contract is silent, overtime is paid at the normal rate, or not at all, provided the minimum wage rules below are met.
That surprises people on both sides. The common beliefs and the truth:
| Belief | Reality |
|---|---|
| Bank holidays are double time | Only if the contract says so. Many hospitality and retail contracts pay the normal rate, and some give a day off in lieu instead |
| Sundays are time and a half | Same: contract only. The old Sunday trading protections give some shop workers a right to opt out of Sunday work, not a right to extra pay |
| Anything over 8 hours a day is overtime | Only if your contract defines overtime that way. Many contracts count it weekly, over 37.5 or 40 hours |
| Part-timers get overtime past their own hours | Usually only past full-time hours, at the normal rate until then, unless the contract says otherwise |
The practical point for an employer: write it down. "Overtime is paid at 1.5× the hourly rate for hours over 40 in a week, when approved in advance" removes every argument above.
Even with no overtime rate, three legal floors sit under every contract:
A shift that runs past midnight belongs to the day it started unless the contract says otherwise, so an 8pm to 4am shift is one eight-hour shift, not four hours on each of two days. Night work has its own rules on hours (an average of eight in each 24) and on health assessments, but no legal premium.
Someone on £14.00 an hour, contracted for 40 hours, with a contract that pays time and a half over 40 hours a week and double time on Sundays:
| Day | Hours | Rate | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 42 | first 40 at £14.00, 2 at £21.00 | £602.00 |
| Saturday | 4 | £21.00 (over 40 already) | £84.00 |
| Sunday | 5 | £28.00 (contract: double time) | £140.00 |
| Total | 51 | £826.00 |
The Saturday hours are time and a half because the weekly threshold was already passed, not because it is Saturday. The Sunday hours are double time because the contract names Sunday. Decide the order of precedence in the contract when two rules could apply to the same hour; "the higher rate applies" is the usual choice.
If every employee is on the same rule, a calculator that takes the rate, the hours and the multiplier is enough for each pay run. Once different people have different rules, or the same person has a weekly threshold and a Sunday rate, a timesheet that holds each person's own contract rules stops the arithmetic being done by hand, and being argued about afterwards.
Rate and hours in, overtime pay at 1.5× or 2× out, with the weekly total: the free Time and a Half Calculator.
Take a look
Sheetsmith