How is overtime figured on a travel therapy contract?

If you are paid by the hour and not exempt, federal rules owe overtime at a rate figured on your regular rate, and stipends that reasonably match your travel costs are left out of that rate. So overtime on a travel contract is usually figured on the taxable hourly wage; ask the agency to put the overtime rate in writing before you sign.

By ProTherapy Staffing, published November 4, 2026.

Are travel therapists owed overtime?

Unless the job is exempt. The federal rule, in the Department of Labor’s regulations, is that “overtime must be compensated at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which the employee is actually employed.”

The exemption for professionals has a pay test as well as a duties test: it covers an employee “compensated on a salary or fee basis,” in the words of the rule. Most travel contracts pay by the hour, but the classification is the agency’s call, so ask how your role is classified. Your state’s labor department can tell you whether its own rules add anything.

What rate is overtime figured on?

Your regular rate, which is an hourly figure drawn from what you are actually paid. The regulations say it “cannot be left to a declaration by the parties” and that it includes “all remuneration for employment paid to, or on behalf of, the employee” except the payments the law excludes.

For a week, the regular rate is your pay for that week, less the excluded payments, divided by the hours you actually worked. On most travel contracts that leaves the taxable hourly wage, plus anything else counted as pay for the work, such as some bonuses; see bonus taxes for how bonuses are taxed.

Why are stipends left out of the regular rate?

Because they repay costs, not work. The reimbursement rule says: “Payments made by the employer to cover such expenses are not included in the employee’s regular rate (if the amount of the reimbursement reasonably approximates the expense incurred).”

It names living expenses away from home among them: the amount an employee traveling on the employer’s business spends on “transportation … and living expenses away from home.” That is what housing and meal stipends are for, which is why the overtime on a travel contract usually starts from the taxable wage alone. Pay packages explained covers how the two parts are split.

If you want the overtime rate shown line by line in an offer, ask a ProTherapy recruiter: Find my next contract.

What if the stipends are large and the hourly wage is low?

Then part of the stipend can count as pay. The same rule says: “If the amount paid as ‘reimbursement’ is disproportionately large, the excess amount will be included in the regular rate.”

It also gives a safe harbor: a travel reimbursement is reasonable if it is no more than the federal per diem allowance for the same expense, which for a location is the rate on the GSA per diem page. A package whose stipends sit within those rates and whose taxable wage is realistic for the work is easier to defend on overtime and on taxes alike.

What should you ask before you sign?

The overtime rate in writing, and how it is figured. Ask which day the workweek starts, whether hours over the weekly threshold need the facility’s approval first, and how call-backs or extra shifts are paid.

Ask too whether the facility expects overtime at all. Some contracts are written for a set schedule and extra hours are rare; others expect them. Knowing which you are signing for is part of negotiating pay, and it matters more than the overtime rate itself if the hours never come.

How do you check overtime on a paycheck?

Match the hours to the stub. Add up the hours you worked in each workweek, note the ones over the threshold, and check that the stub shows them at the overtime rate, figured on the regular rate.

If the stub does not match, ask the agency’s payroll contact for the calculation in writing. A mistake in the hours or the rate is usually fixed on the next check once it is pointed out; keep your own record of hours worked until it is.

Does time off or a short week change it?

Overtime is figured week by week, on the hours actually worked in that week. A week with a day off has fewer hours to count, and a long week is not averaged against a short one.

Missed hours can affect the stipends too; time off during a contract covers what a day off can do to the rest of the package.

Frequently asked questions

Do travel therapists get overtime?

Unless the job is exempt. The federal rule requires overtime at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate, and the professional exemption covers employees compensated on a salary or fee basis, so an hourly traveler should ask how the role is classified.

Are stipends included in the overtime rate?

Not when they reasonably match the expense. The regulation says payments made to cover such expenses are not included in the employee's regular rate, and an amount within the federal per diem is treated as reasonable.

What if my stipends are higher than the GSA rate?

The regulation says that if a reimbursement is disproportionately large, the excess is included in the regular rate, though an amount above the federal rate is not automatically unreasonable.

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