FLSA piece rate overtime

How 778.111 pays

Section 7(a) requires 1.5× the regular rate after 40. When the employee is paid on a piece-rate basis, 29 CFR § 778.111(a) sets the regular rate: add piece earnings, production bonuses, and any sums paid for waiting time or other hours worked (except statutory exclusions), divide by hours worked, then pay extra half-time at that rate for hours over 40. Only additional half-time is due because piece rates already paid straight time on every hour, including overtime hours.

Official example. 50 hours, $491 at piece rates for 46 productive hours plus $8.00 an hour for 4 hours of waiting: $523 ÷ 50 = $10.46 RR; extra 10 × $5.23 = $52.30; total $575.30 (equivalent to 40 × $10.46 + 10 × $15.69). Govinfo CFR 2025-title29-vol3-sec778-111 (HTTP 200).

778.111(b) hourly guaranty. If piece earnings fall short of the guaranty × productive hours, pay the guaranty. With no waiting, the guaranty is the regular rate. Official: $11 × 46h = $506 instead of $491 piece, plus 6 × $5.50 = $539. Waiting at a different rate uses a weighted average (778.115).

778.418 / § 7(g)(1). By agreement, pay not less than 1.5× the bona fide piece rate for each piece produced during overtime hours — extra half of those units’ straight piece value — if overtime-hour compensation is at least 1.5× federal MW for hours over 40. Uniform output matches 778.111 ($1,000 / 50h with $200 of pieces in OT hours → $1,100). Faster non-OT output can pay less extra ($160 of OT-hour pieces → $1,080 vs 111 $1,100).

Not day-rate, not CA rest, not WA rest. 778.112 is a flat sum for a day’s work or a job, no pieces. LC 226.2 pays rest separately from piece earnings. WAC 296-131-020(2) pays agricultural rest separately. Hourly FLSA 40 uses a typed hourly 1.5×, not a piece-inclusive regular rate. FWW 778.114 is a fixed weekly salary. PA always ÷40.

CFR 50h · $491 piece + $32 waiting → $575.30.
40h · $491 piece → $491.
35h · $400 piece → $400 (hourly $10.46 → $366.10; Belo G=50 still a weekly guaranty).
111(b) $11 × 46h (piece $491 short) → $539.
$1,000 piece / 50h half-time → $1,100.
778.418 · $1,000 piece · $160 OT-hour pieces → $1,080.

Sources

• 29 CFR § 778.111 — Pieceworker (Govinfo XML, HTTP 200, 1 Jul 2025)
• 29 CFR § 778.418 — Pieceworkers, § 7(g)(1) overtime piece rate (Govinfo XML, HTTP 200)
• 29 CFR § 778.111 — Cornell LII reprint (HTTP 200)
• 29 U.S.C. § 207(a), (g)(1) — overtime after 40; overtime at 1.5× the piece rate applicable to the work
• 29 CFR § 778.112 — Day rates and job rates (contrast)

FAQ