Static educational checklist — not a calculator. No punch inputs, no weighted-average engines, no live night-premium / regular-rate math. Spot common FLSA § 778.207 nightshift and other nonovertime premium red flags: ordinary evening / night / weekend shift differentials that must stay in the regular rate, plus the narrow § 778.206 path where a true ≥1½× premium for work outside a bona fide basic workday or workweek may be treated as an overtime premium. Distinct from holiday / Sunday / special-day (§ 778.203), daily OT premiums (§ 778.202), call-back / show-up, split-shift / spread, and the one-page premium-credit cheat sheet.
Baseline — what § 778.207 requires (and what § 778.206 allows)
Under 29 CFR § 778.207(b), the Act requires inclusion in the regular rate of nightshift differentials — whether a percent of the base rate or so many cents per hour — and of premiums for hazardous, arduous, or dirty work. Those payments are not statutory overtime premiums under §§ 7(e)(5)–(7); they may not be stripped from the regular-rate numerator or credited toward FLSA overtime. By contrast, § 778.206 illustrates when a bona fide “clock pattern” premium of at least time and one-half for work outside hours established in good faith as the basic, normal, or regular workday or workweek may be excluded from the regular rate and credited toward statutory OT. A flat “+$2 night” or “10% evening” label does not convert a § 778.207 nonovertime differential into a § 778.206 overtime premium. This page does not compute weighted averages or live overtime.
Checklist — shift differential / night-premium red flags
Night / evening / weekend shift differentials stripped from the regular-rate numerator. Flag payroll that excludes a “+$1.50 night,” “10% evening,” “third-shift premium,” or similar differential when computing the FLSA regular rate, then pays overtime at 1½× the bare base rate. § 778.207(b) expressly requires inclusion of nightshift differentials in either percent or cents-per-hour form.
Ordinary shift diffs treated as excludable “overtime premiums” under §§ 7(e)(5)–(7). Flag handbooks or CBA macros that classify every night or weekend differential as a statutory overtime premium merely because the word “premium” appears on the stub. Extra compensation outside the statutory overtime-premium definitions must stay in the regular rate; no part may be credited toward statutory OT (§ 778.207(a)).
Below-1½× “outside basic day” differentials excluded under a § 778.206 label. Flag operations that cite § 778.206 (or “clock pattern”) to strip a night or after-hours differential that is less than time and one-half the bona fide straight-time rate for like work during the basic workday. § 778.206’s examples turn on a true ≥1½× premium for work outside a good-faith basic day/week — not on a modest shift bump.
§ 7(g) / two-rate weighted-average mixups (“just pay 1½× the night rate”). Flag weeks where an employee works both day and night rates (or job A and job B) and payroll either (a) pays overtime only on the night rate for night OT hours without a proper § 7(g) agreement, or (b) ignores the weighted-average regular rate when no § 7(g) election applies. A shift differential is still remuneration that can raise the RR even when two rates appear on the punch.
Hazardous / arduous / dirty-work premiums omitted from the regular rate. Flag “hazard pay,” “biohazard,” “dirty job,” or similar contract premiums coded as excludable overtime-style extras. § 778.207(b) groups those with nightshift differentials: they are nonovertime premiums that must be included before statutory OT is computed.
Overtime computed on base rate only (healthcare / 24/7 Fact Sheet #54 pattern). Flag skilled-nursing, hospital, and other round-the-clock stubs that pay 1½× the daytime base for overtime hours even when evening or night differentials were earned in the same workweek. DOL Fact Sheet #54 flags this as a common health-care overtime error under § 778.207(b).
Split-shift / spread-of-hours / call-back / show-up used as a stand-in for shift differentials. Flag payroll that pays a CA/NY/DC split-shift premium, NY spread-of-hours, or a § 778.220 / § 778.221 show-up / call-back amount and then skips a separate regular-rate analysis for night or evening differentials earned on hours actually worked. Different statutes; different stub lines; different RR worksheets.
Lump-sum “shift bonuses” / attendance night stipends treated as hourly OT premiums. Flag fixed night stipends, attendance-tied evening bonuses, or one-line “shift bonus” amounts paid without regard to hours worked and then excluded from the regular rate or credited toward OT. Lump sums that are not a true premium rate per hour generally stay in the regular rate under § 778.207(b) (see also §§ 778.308–.314 / § 778.310).
Stub coding and record gaps on base rate vs shift diff vs OT premium. Flag wage statements that never show a night / evening differential line separate from base wages, missing percent-vs-cents notes, destroyed shift schedules, and regular-rate worksheets that omit differentials in overtime weeks. Record gaps turn every mixed day/night week into a he-said / she-said regular-rate dispute.