Tie-out tool / Biweekly payroll

Code TT on biweekly payroll

Count hours over 40 in each workweek, never hours over 80 in the pay period. A 30-hour week followed by a 50-hour week is 80 hours with 10 overtime hours: $100.00 of Code TT at $20 an hour.

Same 80 hours, different Code TT

Week 1 + week 2	Code TT, per workweek	If counted per period	Hours over 40, by week	Hours over 80
40 + 40	$0.00	$0.00	0	0
30 + 50	$100.00	$0.00	10	0
50 + 30	$100.00	$0.00	10	0
36 + 44	$40.00	$0.00	4	0
45 + 45	$100.00	$100.00	10	10
20 + 60	$200.00	$0.00	20	0
48 + 32	$80.00	$0.00	8	0
42 + 38	$20.00	$0.00	2	0

Rate $20 an hour. The first money column, counted per workweek, is the one for the W-2.

The rule

Generally, each workweek stands alone; for purposes of overtime there can be no averaging of hours over 2 or more workweeks.

(IRS FS-2026-13, Q13) The regulation gives the same case: "[I]f an employee works 30 hours one week and 50 hours the next, he must receive overtime compensation for the overtime hours worked beyond the applicable maximum in the second week". (29 CFR 778.104)

Two things to check on a biweekly register

Does the pay period line up with the workweek? A period of two whole workweeks never splits a week. A period that starts midweek does: rebuild the workweeks from the daily timesheet.
Which year is the last period paid in? A period ending in late December and paid in January belongs on the next form. See December overtime paid in January.

Hospitals and residential care employers may use a 14-day, 8-and-80 method under a different part of the law; qualified overtime is then the premium paid under that method. (FS-2026-13, Q17) This page is about the ordinary 40-hour standard.

Do the whole year from a file

Drop a timesheet CSV, paste the register overtime totals, and get a worksheet per employee with the reason for every difference.

Open the tie-out tool

Runs in your browser. Payroll data is never uploaded.

Questions

An employee worked 80 hours in a biweekly period. Is there Code TT?

Only if one of the two workweeks had more than 40 hours worked. 40 + 40 gives none. 30 + 50 gives 10 overtime hours.

The register paid no overtime for a 30 + 50 period. What goes in Code TT?

Code TT reports qualified overtime that was paid. If overtime was owed for the 50-hour week and not paid, that is a wage problem to fix first; an unpaid premium is not reported.

Sources

Fetched 2026-11-10. Regulation text was checked against the federal annual edition; links open the current online version.

Updated 2026-11-10. Tickfoot is an information tool, not tax, legal or professional advice.