Was I Paid Right?

How The Check Works

You enter two things. The first is the hours on your own time card, one figure for each workweek. The second is what your pay slip says: regular hours, overtime hours, the hourly rate and the gross pay.

The page works out what your card should come to at your rate. If you choose the US federal rule, hours over 40 in a workweek count as overtime. Then it sets that beside your slip, line by line.

Nothing is sent anywhere. The numbers stay in your browser, and the page does not decide whether anyone made a mistake. It only shows the gap, if there is one.

A Worked Example

Say you worked 44:00 in one week at $22.00 an hour. Under the US weekly rule the first 40 hours are regular and the last 4 hours are overtime at time and a half. That is 40.00 h × $22.00 + 4.00 h × $33.00 = $1,012.00.

Your slip shows 42:00 of regular hours, no overtime and $924.00 gross. The card has 2:00 more hours than the slip, and the gross is $88.00 lower than the card works out to.

The overtime line is where the difference sits. Your card has 4:00 of overtime and the slip has none. A gap like this has a few common causes, which the next sections go through.

Differences are the time card figure minus the slip figure.

Two Weeks And A Pay Period

Pay periods often cover two weeks, and overtime is counted for each workweek on its own. A week of 45:00 and a week of 38:00 do not cancel out. The first week has 5:00 of overtime and the second has none.

At $18.00 an hour the card works out to 78.00 h × $18.00 + 5.00 h × $27.00 = $1,539.00. A slip with 80:00 of regular hours and $1,440.00 gross is $99.00 lower, because it treats the two weeks as one block of 80 hours.

Type the hours for each week in the first box, separated by a comma. That keeps the overtime rule working week by week, as the law usually requires.

Common Reasons The Numbers Differ

Most gaps have an ordinary cause. These are the ones that come up most often, and a payroll team can usually confirm or rule each one out quickly.

1. A missed or wrong punch. A single clock in or clock out that was not recorded can remove hours from a whole day.
2. Rounding. Some employers round each punch to the nearest quarter hour, which can move your total by a few minutes a day.
3. An automatic lunch deduction. Many systems take 30 minutes off every long shift, whether or not you took the break.
4. A pay period cut-off. Hours worked on the last day may be paid on the next slip, so two slips can each look short.
5. Pay from other lines. Bonuses, shift differentials and unpaid leave change the gross without changing the hours.

Check The Rate And The Gross

Your slip may show a rate that is different from the one you expect. Look at the rate on the slip first. If the rate is right, multiply the slip hours by it and compare the result with the gross.

The page does this for you. If the slip's own hours and rate do not come to the gross it shows, the verdict says so. That usually means other pay is included, such as a bonus or a differential.

Taxes and deductions are taken off the gross to reach your take home pay. This page compares gross pay only, so take home pay will always be lower than the figures here.

Use Your Saved Time Card

If you keep your hours in the time card on this site, the Use my saved hours button fills in the card side for you. Pick the job and the pay period, and the page reads the paid hours, the overtime and the expected gross from your device.

Paid hours include any paid leave you recorded, such as a holiday or sick day, because the slip normally includes them too. If you change a typed box afterwards, the saved card is set aside and your typed figures are used.

Start recording your hours in the time card calculator.

What To Check Next

If a gap is still there after you have looked at the common reasons, take these steps in order. Keep it calm and factual. A written question gets a written answer you can keep.

1. Write down the dates, the times you worked and the figures from your slip. Copy the working from this page.
2. Ask your payroll or manager to check the punches for the period. Show them the specific day or week.
3. Ask for a written answer, and keep copies of your time card and your slips.
4. If you still have questions, contact the agency for your country. The table below lists them.

Where To Get Help

These offices give free information about pay and working hours. Rules differ by country, state and contract, and the page cannot tell you what applies to your job.

Links are for information only. This page is not legal advice.

Questions People Ask