If you worked long summer shifts in El Paso, Texas, your paycheck should reflect every compensable hour and the correct overtime rate. Covered nonexempt employees generally earn overtime after more than 40 hours in one fixed workweek. A staffing shortage, seasonal rush, or rule against unauthorized overtime does not automatically remove an employer’s duty to pay for work that it required, allowed, or knew about.
This guide gives you a practical paycheck audit. You can compare one workweek at a time, add unrecorded work, review bonuses and shift premiums, check your classification, and save records that may support a wage claim.
Paycheck Checkpoint 
A two-week paycheck can show 80 total hours and still hide unpaid overtime if you worked 50 hours in one workweek and 30 hours in the next.
For a broader discussion of denied overtime during busy summer months, visit:
https://chavezlawfirm.law/denied-overtime-summer-work-months-texas-wage-claim/
Start With the Employer’s Workweek
Overtime is usually measured within a fixed, recurring seven-day workweek. The workweek may begin on any day and at any hour, but it should remain consistent. It does not have to match a calendar week or the dates shown at the top of a two-week pay stub.
Texas generally does not require a separate daily overtime premium for most private-sector employees. Working more than eight hours in one day does not automatically create overtime. Saturday, Sunday, and holiday work also do not automatically receive premium pay unless an agreement provides it or the hours push your workweek total above 40.
Review each workweek separately. An employer generally cannot average two workweeks to avoid overtime. If you worked 50 hours in one week and 30 hours in the next, you may still have 10 overtime hours in the first week.
The U.S. Department of Labor explains the federal overtime rule here:
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/23-flsa-overtime-pay
Enrique Chavez
Texas Trial Attorney
Protecting Your Rights
Compare Hours Worked With Hours Recorded
Your timecard may not show every hour that counts as work. Compensable time can include tasks performed before clocking in, after clocking out, during a deducted meal period, or away from the workplace when the employer knew or had reason to know that you were working.
Common summer examples include:
- Opening a restaurant, store, warehouse, office, or job site before the scheduled shift
- Cleaning, closing a register, completing reports, or securing equipment after clocking out
- Loading tools, supplies, merchandise, or delivery vehicles
- Answering required calls, messages, or email after hours
- Attending required meetings, safety talks, or training
- Traveling between job sites during the workday
- Working through an automatically deducted meal period
- Waiting at the workplace when you are not free to use the time for your own purposes
- Checking required scheduling or assignment apps after hours
- Correcting inventory, customer, route, or payroll records from home
Ordinary travel between your home and your usual workplace is generally treated differently from travel between work locations during the day. Waiting time, on-call time, training, and travel rules depend on the facts.
The Department of Labor provides more information about hours worked at:
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/22-flsa-hours-worked
– Steve Hendrix
– Adriana Solis
– Luis Amador
– Maria Terrazas
Recalculate Overtime From the Regular Rate
Overtime is generally based on your regular rate of pay, not only your stated hourly rate. Certain nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, production incentives, attendance payments, and shift differentials may need to be included.
For a simple hourly employee with no extra compensation, the calculation often begins this way:
- Add all hours worked during the workweek.
- Subtract 40 to identify overtime hours.
- Multiply the regular rate by 1.5.
- Multiply that overtime rate by the overtime hours.
- Compare the result with the pay stub.
Example: You earn $18 per hour and work 46 hours in one workweek. Your pay would generally include $18 per hour for the first 40 hours and $27 per hour for the six overtime hours.
Bonuses can change the calculation. Assume you earn $17 per hour, work 46 hours, and receive a promised $120 production bonus tied to completed orders for that week. The bonus may increase the regular rate. Payroll that calculates overtime from $17 alone may underpay the overtime premium.
Tipped employees should also review the math closely. An employer using a tip credit does not necessarily calculate overtime by multiplying only the lower cash wage by 1.5. The federal tip-credit formula affects the amount due.
Federal regular-rate guidance is available at:
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/56a-regular-rate
Federal tipped-employee guidance is available at:
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tipped-employees-flsa
Check Whether Salary or a Job Title Is Hiding Overtime
A salary does not automatically remove overtime rights. A title such as manager, supervisor, lead, coordinator, or assistant director does not decide whether you are exempt.
Many executive, administrative, and professional exemptions require all of the following:
- Payment on a qualifying salary basis
- A salary that meets the applicable federal threshold
- Primary duties that satisfy a specific exemption test
As of July 23, 2026, the standard federal salary level for most executive, administrative, and professional exemptions is $684 per week. Meeting the salary level alone is not enough. Your actual primary duties still matter.
Summer staffing gaps can reveal classification problems. A salaried manager may spend most of the week serving customers, stocking, cleaning, delivering products, or covering hourly shifts. The employer must still evaluate the real primary duty and every required exemption element.
You can review the firm’s overtime page at:
https://chavezlawfirm.law/el-paso-failure-to-pay-overtime-wages-lawyer/
Current federal salary-level information is available at:
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/salary-levels
Review Common Busy-Season Payroll Flags
A short paycheck may result from one error or a repeated payroll practice. Watch for:
- Straight-time pay for every hour, including hours above 40
- Overtime removed because a supervisor did not approve it in advance
- Automatic meal deductions when you kept working
- Time records edited to match the posted schedule
- Hours divided between locations, payroll systems, or related businesses
- Cash payments for extra hours that do not appear in payroll records
- Hours moved into a different workweek
- Promised bonuses or shift premiums excluded from the regular rate
- Employees labeled as independent contractors despite close control over their work
- Covered nonexempt private-sector employees offered compensatory time instead of overtime pay
An employer may enforce scheduling and approval rules. It may address a failure to follow a valid policy. It generally must still pay for work that it suffered or permitted.
Use a Week-by-Week Paycheck Audit
Create one worksheet for each workweek. Keep the worksheet in a personal account or on a device that you control.
Record:
- Workweek start date
- Workweek end date
- Scheduled hours
- Clocked hours
- Unrecorded opening or closing work
- Interrupted meal periods
- Required after-hours calls, messages, or app work
- Travel between work locations
- Total hours worked
- Base hourly rate
- Shift differentials
- Bonuses, commissions, or incentives
- Overtime hours
- Expected gross pay
- Gross pay shown on the pay stub
- Difference between expected and recorded pay
Do not combine two workweeks into one total. The separate weekly calculation is what can reveal overtime hidden by a two-week payroll display.
Paycheck Audit Example
Assume your pay period covers two workweeks.
Week One:
- Recorded hours: 47
- Unrecorded closing work: 3
- Total hours worked: 50
- Overtime hours: 10
Week Two:
- Recorded hours: 30
- Unrecorded work: 0
- Total hours worked: 30
- Overtime hours: 0
The pay period contains 80 total hours, but Week One may still include 10 overtime hours. A pay stub that lists only 80 straight-time hours may be missing overtime pay.
Save Records That Show When You Worked
Your own records can help you compare your memory with the employer’s timekeeping system. Save lawful copies of materials you already have a right to access.
Useful records may include:
- Schedules
- Clock-in and clock-out confirmations
- Pay stubs and direct-deposit records
- Messages assigning work before or after a shift
- Required email or app activity
- Delivery, route, service, or job-site logs
- Notes about interrupted meal periods
- Bonus, commission, and incentive plans
- Names of supervisors who requested extra work
- Names of coworkers who observed your hours
- A separate daily and weekly time log
Write notes close to the date of the work. Record when you started, when you stopped, what you did, where you worked, and who knew about the task.
Do not take trade secrets, customer records, private medical information, or other material that you are not authorized to possess.
Ask Payroll to Review the Difference in Writing
You may report the issue to payroll, human resources, or a supervisor. A written message can create a clear record of the dates, hours, and rate in dispute.
Sample Payroll Message
Please review my pay for the workweek of [start date] through [end date]. My records show [total hours] hours worked, including [overtime hours] hours above 40. The paycheck lists [hours or amount shown]. I also received [bonus, shift differential, or commission], which may affect the regular rate. Please provide the time records and calculation used for this paycheck and correct any missing wages.
Keep a copy of the message and every response. Save revised timecards, corrected pay stubs, and explanations of any payroll adjustment.
Know the Deadlines That May Apply
Deadlines depend on the claim and the filing method.
A Texas Payday Law wage claim generally must reach the Texas Workforce Commission within 180 days after the wages were due. The Texas Workforce Commission explains its wage-claim process here:
https://www.twc.texas.gov/programs/wage-and-hour/texas-payday-law
Federal Fair Labor Standards Act claims commonly use a two-year limitations period. A three-year period may apply to willful violations. Other claims, agencies, agreements, and court procedures may use different deadlines.
A prompt review can preserve more options. This article does not determine which deadline applies to your circumstances.
Document Retaliation After a Pay Complaint
Federal wage law protects employees from retaliation for certain wage-related actions, including asking about pay, asserting overtime rights, filing a complaint, or cooperating with an investigation.
Retaliation may include:
- Termination
- Reduced hours
- Less favorable shifts
- Threats
- Discipline
- Sudden negative evaluations
- Undesirable assignments
- Other adverse action tied to protected conduct
Save schedules, messages, evaluations, disciplinary notices, pay records, and witness information that show what changed after your complaint.
Federal retaliation guidance is available at:
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/retaliation
Talk With an El Paso Overtime Lawyer
Missing overtime can affect the income you expected from long summer hours. Chavez Law Firm can review your pay stubs, time records, job duties, bonuses, classification, and any changes that followed a wage complaint.
The firm serves employees in El Paso, Texas, El Paso County, and nearby areas. A case review can help you understand which records matter and which deadlines may apply without promising a specific result.
Call (915) 995-5777:
tel:+19159955777
Request a consultation:
https://chavezlawfirm.law/contact-us/
Learn about Attorney Enrique Chavez, Jr.:
https://chavezlawfirm.law/attorney-enrique-chavez-jr/
Review the firm’s employment law services:
https://chavezlawfirm.law/el-paso-employment-law-attorneys/
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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