Comp Time Calculator

Updated August 2026 · Free · No sign-up

Convert overtime hours into compensatory time off instantly. Enter your extra hours worked and this comp time calculator shows exactly how much paid time off you have earned at the standard 1.5x rate, plus your updated comp time balance.

What Is Comp Time?

Compensatory time — universally shortened to comp time — is paid time off that an employee receives instead of cash overtime pay. Rather than seeing extra money on your paycheck for working beyond your normal schedule, you bank hours you can use later as paid leave.

The concept sounds simple, but it sits inside one of the most misunderstood areas of US wage law. Whether comp time is even legal depends on who you work for: government agencies can offer it under strict federal rules, while private companies generally cannot use it to replace overtime pay for hourly workers. That distinction — explained fully below — is the single most important thing to understand before accepting comp time from any employer.

How to Use This Comp Time Calculator

1. Enter the number of overtime hours you worked beyond your normal schedule (beyond 40 hours in the workweek for most US employees).
2. Choose the comp time rate. Public-sector employers under the FLSA must credit 1.5 hours of comp time per overtime hour. UK-style TOIL and informal private arrangements are usually 1:1 straight time. Some union contracts specify double time for holidays or emergency callouts.
3. Optionally add your existing balance so the calculator shows your new running total.
4. Press Calculate — results update live as you change any number, and you can copy the result for your records.

Comp Time Formula

Compensatory time mirrors the overtime pay calculation, but pays in hours instead of dollars:

Comp Time Earned = Overtime Hours × Comp Time Rate

New Balance = Existing Balance + Comp Time Earned

At the FLSA-mandated 1.5x rate, every overtime hour is worth an hour and a half of future paid leave. That multiplier exists deliberately: comp time is meant to be economically equivalent to time-and-a-half overtime pay, just delivered in a different currency.

Worked Examples

Example 1 — standard accrual. Priya is a county administrator who worked 46 hours in a week, 6 hours over her 40-hour schedule. Her agency offers comp time instead of overtime pay:

• Overtime hours: 46 − 40 = 6
• Comp time earned: 6 × 1.5 = 9 hours
• Existing balance of 12 hours → new balance: 12 + 9 = 21 hours (nearly three days off)

Example 2 — reaching the cap. A city firefighter with 470 banked hours works 10 hours of overtime (15 comp hours at 1.5x). His cap is 480 hours, so only 10 hours can be banked — the remaining 5 hours must legally be paid as cash overtime.

Example 3 — UK TOIL. Sam, an office manager in Manchester, stays 4 extra hours for a product launch. Her contract offers time off in lieu at straight time: she books 4 hours of TOIL — half a day — to use within the 3-month window her employer's policy allows.

Comp Time Rules at a Glance

Source: U.S. Department of Labor — FLSA.

Comp Time vs Overtime Pay: Which Is Better?

Mathematically they are designed to be equal — 6 overtime hours gives you either 9 hours of pay or 9 hours of leave at the same hourly value. In practice, several factors tilt the decision:

• Take the cash if your comp balance is already high, your agency makes it hard to schedule leave, or you're worried about policy changes. Money in your account cannot be denied later; a leave request can.
• Take the time if you value flexibility, are approaching burnout, or plan extended time off (parental leave top-up, long trips). Time off also isn't taxed until the underlying pay is — and unused comp time is paid out at your final (usually higher) rate when you leave.
• Public employees don't always get a choice — many agencies decide cash vs comp based on budget. The FLSA requires a prior agreement, so check your union contract or employment terms.

Why Private Companies Can't Offer Comp Time to Hourly Staff

The FLSA of 1938 requires cash overtime for non-exempt employees precisely so employers can't promise future time off and quietly never grant it. Congress carved out the public-sector exception in 1985 (§207(o)) after Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority extended the FLSA to state and local governments, which feared unbudgetable overtime bills. Several "Working Families Flexibility" bills have proposed extending comp time to the private sector, but none has become law. So if a private employer offers you comp time instead of overtime pay and you are hourly/non-exempt, that arrangement is illegal — you are owed cash, and can recover it through a Department of Labor wage claim going back two to three years.

Using and Cashing Out Comp Time

• Using it: public agencies must allow use within a "reasonable period" after request unless it would "unduly disrupt" operations — mere inconvenience or overtime backfill cost doesn't qualify as undue disruption under DOL interpretation.
• Cashing out: agencies may pay down balances at any time at your regular rate. On separation, unused comp time must be paid out at the higher of your final regular rate or your average rate over the last three years of employment.
• Tracking it: keep your own log (dates, hours, rate) alongside official records — payroll systems and manual timesheets disagree surprisingly often. The copy button on this calculator makes that easy.

Common Comp Time Mistakes to Avoid

• Accepting 1:1 comp time as a public employee. The law says 1.5 hours per overtime hour — an "hour for hour" arrangement shortchanges you by a third.
• Letting your balance sit at the cap. Hours above 240/480 must be paid in cash anyway; a maxed balance means every new overtime hour should appear on your paycheck.
• Confusing comp time with flex time. Flex time rearranges the same 40 hours (come in late, leave late); comp time compensates hours beyond your schedule. Different rules, different math — for flexible schedules see our work hours calculator.
• Forgetting comp time in your exit math. When resigning, your banked hours are real money — include them when you check your final paycheck.

If you'd rather see what those overtime hours are worth in dollars, run the same numbers through the overtime pay calculator or the time and a half calculator.

✓ Formula verified  •  Last updated: August 20, 2026