To turn an hourly rate into a yearly salary, multiply the rate by the hours you work each week, then by the number of weeks you are paid. A £15 hourly rate on a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks comes to £29,250 a year before tax. Overtime is worked out the same way, except the extra hours are paid at a higher rate, such as time and a half.
The hourly rate to salary formula
The calculation has three ingredients: your hourly rate, your weekly hours and the number of weeks you are paid.
- Weekly pay = hourly rate × hours per week
- Yearly pay = weekly pay × weeks per year
- Monthly pay = yearly pay ÷ 12
Most people use 52 weeks. If you work fewer weeks (term-time contracts, for example), use the weeks you are actually paid. Paid holiday is normally part of those 52 weeks, so you do not need to deduct it separately from a standard employment contract.
Worked example: £15 an hour
Using the Hourly rate to salary tool with 37.5 hours a week over 52 weeks:
| Period | Gross pay |
|---|---|
| Per hour | £15.00 |
| Per day (5 days) | £112.50 |
| Per week | £562.50 |
| Per month | £2,437.50 |
| Per year | £29,250.00 |
These are gross figures. To see what lands in your account, follow the steps in How to work out your take-home pay from a UK salary.
Working backwards from a salary
Divide the yearly salary by the weeks you work, then by your weekly hours. A £30,000 salary on 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks is £576.92 a week, or £15.38 an hour. The same maths shows why two jobs with the same salary can pay very different hourly rates: a 45-hour week at £30,000 is a lower hourly rate than a 37.5-hour week.
Remember that a salary quoted as “£30,000” is the gross figure. Income tax and National Insurance come off afterwards, as explained in UK income tax explained: bands, allowance and how it's worked out.
How overtime pay works
Overtime is any paid work beyond your normal contracted hours. The usual method is to multiply your hourly rate by an overtime multiplier, then by the extra hours.
Common multipliers are time and a quarter (x1.25), time and a half (x1.5), double time (x2), two and a half times (x2.5) and triple time (x3). Which one applies is set by your contract or employer policy.
Example: you earn £14 an hour, work your normal 37.5 hours and add 6 hours of overtime at time and a half.
- Overtime rate: £14 × 1.5 = £21.00 an hour
- Normal pay: 37.5 × £14 = £525.00
- Overtime pay: 6 × £21 = £126.00
- Total for the week: £651.00 (about 19.4% of it from overtime)
Note: This is general information, not financial or legal advice. In the UK there is no general legal right to a higher overtime rate, so check your contract, and check how overtime affects holiday pay with your employer or ACAS.
Why overtime can feel smaller than expected
Overtime is added to your pay for the period and taxed along with it. It does not usually get taxed at a special rate, but a larger pay packet can push part of your income into a higher band over a year. That is why a big overtime week sometimes looks lighter after tax than you hoped. The tax maths is covered in UK income tax explained: bands, allowance and how it's worked out.
Checking an hourly rate against a job offer
When comparing offers, convert everything to the same basis. A job paying £15 an hour for 37.5 hours is not the same as one paying £15.50 for 32 hours, even though the second has the higher rate. Multiply out to a yearly figure, then compare after tax. Look too at unpaid breaks, paid holiday, pension contributions and whether overtime is guaranteed, because these change the real value of the job.
If your hours vary week to week, use an average over a few months rather than your best week. Zero-hours and shift workers can use the weekly figure as a building block and multiply by the weeks they expect to work.
Try the calculator
Use Hourly rate to salary to convert between hourly pay and salary, and Overtime pay to see the total for a week with extra hours. Both give estimates based on the figures you enter.
Open the free Hourly rate to salary
Worked example 2: minimum wage as a yearly salary
From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. The rates for younger workers and apprentices are on GOV.UK. Using our calculator:
| Weekly hours | Weekly pay | Yearly pay (52 weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| 37.5 | £476.63 | £24,784.50 |
| 40 | £508.40 | £26,436.80 |
These are gross figures, before income tax and National Insurance. The same method works for any rate. Take £15.50 an hour on a 32-hour, four-day week: £496 a week and £25,792 a year, or about £2,149 a month. That is a higher rate but a lower yearly pay than the 37.5-hour £15 job in the main example, which is why comparing the yearly figure matters.
Worked example 3: salary to hourly
A £45,000 salary on a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks equates to £23.08 an hour, £173.08 a day and £865.38 a week. Contracted hours matter: if the real week is 45 hours, the true hourly rate is lower, at roughly £19.23 (45,000 ÷ 52 ÷ 45). That is a hand calculation, but it shows why unpaid extra hours quietly cut your effective rate.
Comparing overtime multipliers
Here is a week for someone on £16 an hour working 37.5 hours plus 8 hours of overtime, from our calculator:
| Multiplier | Overtime rate | Overtime pay | Total for the week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time and a quarter (x1.25) | £20.00 | £160.00 | £760.00 |
| Time and a half (x1.5) | £24.00 | £192.00 | £792.00 |
| Double time (x2) | £32.00 | £256.00 | £856.00 |
| Triple time (x3) | £48.00 | £384.00 | £984.00 |
Normal pay in every row is £600. Double time makes overtime about 30% of the week’s gross pay, while time and a quarter makes it about 21%. If your employer offers time off in lieu instead of pay, compare the hours you would get back with the money above.
Step-by-step: checking a pay slip with overtime
- Find your contracted hours and base hourly rate. If you are salaried, work it out as above.
- Count the overtime hours on your timesheet.
- Multiply the base rate by the multiplier your contract states.
- Multiply that by the overtime hours and add normal pay.
- Compare the total with the gross pay line. Differences can be due to rounding, a different pay period or a different multiplier for evening and weekend hours.
If the figures do not match, ask payroll to explain in writing. Acas offers free guidance on pay queries.
Common mistakes
- Using 4 weeks for a month. A month is 52 ÷ 12, about 4.33 weeks.
- Counting unpaid breaks as paid time. Use paid hours only.
- Mixing gross and net. Compare offers on gross pay first, then after tax, as shown in How to work out your take-home pay from a UK salary.
- Assuming salary equals hourly times 40. Contracted hours vary, so check yours.
- Forgetting that percentages of overtime matter. For help with ratios and shares of pay, see How to calculate percentages.
Zero-hours and shift work
When hours change, calculate pay for a typical week from the last few months, then scale by the weeks you expect to work. Holiday for irregular hours builds up as a share of hours worked, as set out in UK holiday entitlement explained. Keep your own record of hours, because it is the evidence if a payslip looks wrong.
Annual pay, hours and the real value of a job
A salary is a promise of pay for a set of hours, and the hourly rate hides everything that surrounds it. Before accepting a role, work out the gross yearly figure, then adjust it for extras that carry a cash value.
- Unpaid lunch or travel. A 40-hour working week with a 30-minute unpaid lunch each day is 37.5 paid hours.
- Pension contributions. An employer contribution is extra pay in the long run, explained in Net pay, salary sacrifice or relief at source: how pension contributions affect your pay.
- Paid leave. More days off at the same salary raises your hourly rate for the days you actually work.
- Bonuses and shift premiums. Count only what is guaranteed in your contract.
For example, two jobs both pay £30,000. One has 37.5 hours and the other 45. The first works out at about £15.38 an hour on a 52-week basis and the second at about £12.82, a difference of roughly 17%, which is a hand calculation using the same formula as above.
Frequently asked questions
How many working hours are in a year?
On a 37.5-hour week over 52 weeks it is 1,950 paid hours. On a 40-hour week it is 2,080. Use your own contracted hours for the best result.
Is the monthly figure just the weekly figure times four?
No. Four weeks is 48 weeks a year, so you would miss pay. Multiply the weekly figure by 52, then divide by 12.
Does overtime count towards my take-home pay?
Yes, it is part of your gross pay and is subject to income tax and National Insurance like the rest. Use a take-home calculator for the net amount.
Do I have to be paid time and a half for overtime?
Not as a general legal rule in the UK. Your contract or company policy decides the rate, so check your paperwork.
How do I convert an hourly rate to a monthly salary?
Multiply the rate by weekly hours and by 52, then divide by 12. For £15 on 37.5 hours that is £2,437.50 a month before tax.
What is time and a half?
It means paying 1.5 times your normal hourly rate for overtime hours. At £14 an hour that is £21 an hour.
Is overtime taxed more heavily?
No special rate applies. It is added to your pay and taxed with it, which can make a large overtime week look lower after deductions than you expected.
What is the minimum hourly rate in the UK?
For workers aged 21 and over it is £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026. Rates for younger workers and apprentices are on GOV.UK.