Weekly vs Biweekly Timesheets: Key Differences and Overtime Rules

1. Pay Periods vs Workweeks

Understanding the Legal Definition of a Workweek

Many employers distribute paychecks biweekly (every two weeks, yielding 26 paychecks per year). However, a pay period is NOT the same as a workweek.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an employee’s workweek is generally a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours (seven consecutive 24-hour periods).

2. The Biweekly Overtime Calculation: Why Averaging Hours Can Be Inaccurate

Week 1 and Week 2 Are Generally Evaluated Independently

A common payroll mistake is summing total hours across both weeks (e.g. 80 hours) and claiming no overtime is owed because the average is 40 hours per week.

For U.S. federal FLSA examples, covered, nonexempt employees are generally evaluated for overtime by individual workweek rather than by averaging hours across a two-week pay period. State laws, collective agreements, exemptions, and individual employment arrangements may differ.

Scenario Example: An employee works 46 hours in Week 1 and 34 hours in Week 2. Total period hours = 80 hours.

• Averaging Calculation: 80 hours / 2 weeks = 40h average -> $0 overtime paid.

• Workweek FLSA Example: Week 1 has 6 hours of overtime (40 Regular + 6 Overtime). Week 2 has 34 regular hours. For a covered, nonexempt employee under federal rules, 6 hours of overtime are earned.