Understanding Overtime in Payroll

A guide for payroll administrators and dispatch managers

This guide explains how the TBN portal calculates overtime pay, what settings control it, and how to read or troubleshoot the result on any payroll period. It is written for the people who actually run payroll — no developer background required.

1. The Big Picture

When you run Generate Payroll for a period, the system works in two passes:

1. Regular pay pass. For every dispatch, school route, scheduled service, or other assignment worked in the period, the system computes pay for every applicable rule, then keeps only the highest-paying rule per assignment. The winning entry is written to the payroll.
2. Overtime pass. Once regular entries exist, the system looks at all overtime-eligible hour-based entries for the period, totals each driver's hours, and — if the driver is over the company threshold — adds a single extra OVERTIME line at the configured premium rate.

Two switches must both be ON for an entry to count toward overtime:

• The Pay Rate Group the rule belongs to has Overtime Eligible turned on.
• The driver's Seniority record has Overtime Eligible turned on.

If either is off, that entry is ignored by the overtime pass.

2. What You Configure (and Where)

Company-level overtime settings

In Account Settings, four fields control the overtime calculation for the whole company:

The Pay Rate Group switch

Open any Pay Rate Group detail page and toggle Overtime Eligible. This applies to every pay rate and every comparison rule that lives under that group. Copying a Pay Rate Group preserves this setting.

The Driver-level switch

On each Driver Seniority record (one per company per driver), there is an Overtime Eligible checkbox. This is the authoritative driver-level switch for overtime.

3. How an Entry Gets Marked Overtime-Eligible

When Generate Payroll runs, every regular entry written by the system is stamped Overtime Eligible only if BOTH switches are on — the Pay Rate Group AND the Driver Seniority. Otherwise the entry is stamped not eligible and is ignored by the overtime pass.

The overtime pass only counts hour-based pay sources. 

Counted toward overtime hours:

• Total Hours
• Total Live Hours
• Total Dead Hours
• Wait Time Hours

Excluded from overtime hours (by design):

• Total Days
• Vehicle Revenue (percent of revenue)
• Flat Rate
• Overnight Days

So flat-rate, percent-of-revenue, and day-based work do not push a driver into overtime — even if they are otherwise eligible.

4. The Overtime Math, Step by Step

After regular entries are written, the overtime sub-procedure runs:

1. Gather every overtime-eligible entry for the period, per driver and per assignment.
2. Use the effective hourly rate when one is set on the underlying pay rate; otherwise use the entry's stored rate.
3. Collapse duplicates. If two comparison rules both qualify on the same assignment, the system uses the minimum quantity across the group so the same hour is never counted twice.
4. Sum hours and dollars per driver across the period.
5. If the driver is over the threshold, insert an OVERTIME row using the formulas below.

The formula

Quantity = Total Hours − Threshold

Rate     = (Total Dollars ÷ Total Hours) × (Multiplier − 1)

Amount   = Quantity × Rate

In plain English: the overtime line pays the premium portion only — the half in time-and-a-half — calculated against the driver's blended hourly rate for the period. The straight-time portion is already in the regular entries.

Worked example

Threshold 40, Multiplier 1.5, Driver works 48 hours averaging $25/hr blended:

• Overtime Quantity: 48 − 40 = 8 hours
• Overtime Rate: $25 × (1.5 − 1) = $12.50/hr
• Overtime Amount: 8 × $12.50 = $100.00

That $100.00 is added on top of the $1,200 in straight-time entries the driver already earned for the 48 hours.

5. What the Overtime Entry Looks Like on the Payroll Tab

System-generated overtime lines are easy to spot. They have these traits:

6. Troubleshooting — When Overtime Looks Wrong

Use this checklist before opening a support ticket:

1. Did regular entries generate first? Overtime only runs after regular pay is written. If regular pay is empty for the period, overtime will be empty too.
2. Are the four company settings filled in? Account Settings → Overtime Hours Threshold, Overtime Pay Multiplier, Overtime Pay Code, Overtime Department Code. If any are blank, overtime may not generate.
3. Is the Pay Rate Group set to Overtime Eligible? Check the Pay Rate Group detail page.
4. Is the Driver Seniority set to Overtime Eligible? Check the Driver Details / Seniority section.
5. Is the work hour-based? Flat-rate, percent-of-revenue, days, and overnight-days do not count toward overtime hours.
6. Did the driver actually exceed the threshold? Driver totals reset every payroll period — they do not roll over.
7. Are there manual entries skewing hours? Manual entries are kept on regenerate, so a stale manual line can change the math. Deleted entries are excluded.
8. Was the period regenerated after a config change? Changing the threshold, multiplier, or eligibility switches has no effect until you click Generate Payroll again.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

Does overtime kick in weekly or per pay period?

Per pay period. If your company runs bi-weekly payroll, the threshold applies to the full two-week total.

Why didn't a driver's flat-rate trip count toward overtime?

By design. Only hour-based pay sources (Total Hours, Total Live Hours, Total Dead Hours, Wait Time Hours) feed the overtime calculation. Flat rate, percent-of-revenue, days, and overnight-days are excluded.

Why is the overtime rate different from 1.5× the driver's pay rate?

The overtime premium is paid against the driver's blended hourly rate for the period — total overtime-eligible dollars divided by total overtime-eligible hours — not against a single posted rate. This handles drivers who worked at multiple rates.

Can I edit the overtime line manually?

Yes, but if you re-run Generate Payroll the system-generated overtime line will be deleted and rebuilt. Best practice: change the underlying inputs (rate, hours, eligibility) and regenerate, or convert your edit into a manually created adjustment entry — those are preserved.

An entry is marked overtime-eligible but I don't think it should be — what controls that?

Both the Pay Rate Group switch and the Driver Seniority switch must be ON for an entry to be eligible. Toggle either OFF and regenerate the period.

Need more help? Contact your TBN Customer Success representative.