Last Updated: October 28, 2026 Reading Time: 6 min

Daylight saving time ends at 2

a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when clocks fall back to 1
a.m. If you're a federal employee on a night shift that weekend, your 8-hour tour runs 9 hours on the clock. For a General Schedule employee on an ordinary 8-hour tour who works it, that hour is overtime. Below is what it pays, with a worked GS-7 example.

Why the Ninth Hour Counts as Overtime

Under OPM's premium pay rules, overtime work means officially ordered or approved work "in excess of 8 hours in a day" or over 40 hours in the administrative workweek (5 C.F.R. § 550.111(a)). If your regular tour is 8 hours and you work straight through the fall-back night, you work 9. The ninth hour is over 8 hours in a day. That section has exceptions: employees on first-40-hour tours and alternative work schedules, and certain firefighters and investigators, are covered by their own overtime rules, so check yours.

The Comptroller General reached the same answer in 1947, ruling on this exact situation. The decision called the hour gained when clocks were set back "THE ONE OVERTIME HOUR WORKED" (B-66366, 26 Comp. Gen. 921). We could not find a current OPM fact sheet on daylight saving time, so the regulation and those decisions are the sources to point your timekeeper to.

Every minute of regular overtime is paid (5 C.F.R. § 550.112(a)(1)), so the full hour counts.

Overtime still requires that the hour actually be worked and be officially ordered or approved. If your supervisor sends you home after 8 actual hours, there is no ninth hour and no overtime. Ask before the shift which way your office handles it.

What the Extra Hour Pays

Three premium pay rules stack on the fall-back night. All of them are figured on your hourly rate including locality pay, because locality counts as basic pay for premium pay (5 C.F.R. § 531.610(c)).

Pay rule What it covers on Nov 1 Rate
Overtime The ninth hour 1.5x hourly rate at or below GS-10 step 1
Night pay Every hour actually worked between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., including the repeated 1 a.m. hour 10% of hourly rate
Sunday premium Your regular 8-hour tour, if any part falls on Sunday 25% of hourly rate, not paid on the overtime hour

A few details from the rules:

  • Overtime rate (title 5, FLSA-exempt employees). At or below the GS-10 step 1 minimum, overtime is 1.5 times your hourly rate of basic pay. Above it, you get the greater of 1.5 times the GS-10 step 1 hourly rate or your own hourly rate (5 C.F.R. § 550.113).
  • Night pay. GS night pay is 10% for regularly scheduled work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (5 U.S.C. § 5545(a)). OPM says night pay "is paid in addition to overtime, Sunday, or holiday premium pay" (OPM night pay fact sheet). The 1947 decision credited a midnight-to-8 tour on the fall-back night with 7 hours at the night rate.
  • Sunday premium. You get 25% for the entire regularly scheduled 8-hour tour when any part of it falls on Sunday (5 U.S.C. § 5546(a)). A tour that starts at 11 p.m. Saturday qualifies for all 8 hours. But OPM says "Sunday premium pay is not paid for overtime hours of work" (OPM Sunday premium fact sheet), so the ninth hour doesn't get it.

For an FLSA-exempt GS employee at or below GS-10 step 1, the extra hour pays 1.5 x your hourly rate in overtime plus 0.10 x your hourly rate in night pay, or 1.6 x your hourly rate.

A Worked Example: GS-7 Step 5 on the Night Shift

Take a GS-7 step 5 in the Rest of U.S. locality in 2026, and assume the title 5 overtime formula applies (an FLSA-exempt position; nonexempt employees are paid under the FLSA rules described below). Base pay is $48,854 and the locality adjustment is 17.06%, for about $57,188 a year, or about $27.40 an hour ($57,188 divided by 2,087 hours). These are FedTools figures from the 2026 GS tables, rounded to the cent. Use your own hourly rate from your leave and earnings statement.

Her regular tour is 11

p.m. Saturday to 7
a.m. Sunday, with an unpaid 30-minute meal at 3
a.m. On a normal Saturday night that is 8 paid hours, 6.5 of them between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Line Normal Saturday-night tour Oct 31 to Nov 1, 2026, all 9 hours worked
Basic pay 8 h x $27.40 = $219.20 8 h x $27.40 = $219.20
Sunday premium (25%, whole 8-hour tour) 8 h x $6.85 = $54.80 8 h x $6.85 = $54.80 (none on hour 9)
Night pay (10%, hours 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) 6.5 h x $2.74 = $17.81 7.5 h x $2.74 = $20.55
Overtime (hour 9) none 1 h x $41.10 = $41.10
Total for the night $291.81 $335.65

That's $43.84 more for working the extra hour: $41.10 in overtime plus $2.74 in night pay for the repeated hour. Every figure here is gross pay, before taxes and deductions.

If your agency ends your tour after 8 actual hours instead, there's no overtime line. Night pay follows the clock: you get it only for hours you actually worked between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (B-199261).

Who Is Paid Under Different Rules

The overtime rates and the worked example above assume an FLSA-exempt GS employee under the ordinary title 5 overtime rules. Some night workers are paid differently:

  • Wage-grade (FWS) employees. The night shift differential is a whole-shift percentage: 10% of the scheduled rate when a majority of your regularly scheduled non-overtime hours fall between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. (5 U.S.C. § 5343(f)). FWS overtime rules are separate, and we have not covered how they treat the extra hour. Ask your payroll office.
  • VA title 38 nurses. Nurses are paid under 38 U.S.C. § 7453: a 10% evening and night differential, a 25% weekend differential, and overtime for officially ordered or approved service over 40 hours in an administrative workweek or over eight consecutive hours, subject to the statute's special provisions. Check with VA payroll how the extra hour is coded on your timecard.
  • FLSA-nonexempt employees. If you're FLSA-nonexempt and on an ordinary 8-hour tour, the extra hour is also hours of work under the FLSA rules, which generally pay overtime for hours over 8 in a day or 40 in a workweek (alternative and other special schedules have their own exceptions) (5 C.F.R. § 551.501(a)), at a rate based on your FLSA regular rate rather than the title 5 formula. The overtime calculator handles both.
  • USPS employees are outside title 5 premium pay and aren't covered here.

Whether the overtime on that hour counts toward the 2025 tax law's overtime deduction is a separate question. Our OBBBA overtime deduction guide covers who qualifies.

What Happens When Clocks Spring Forward in March

The mirror problem comes on Sunday, March 14, 2027, the second Sunday of March. A night tour that crosses 2 a.m. loses an hour and runs 7 hours on the clock.

The Comptroller General has given agencies two options:

  • Charge one hour of annual leave for the lost hour (26 Comp. Gen. 921). A 1973 decision held that the leave hour earns no Sunday premium (B-159779, 53 Comp. Gen. 292). Night pay continues for paid leave only when the statutory condition is met, including less than eight hours of paid leave in the pay period (5 U.S.C. § 5545(a)).
  • Let you work an hour after the normal shift to keep 8 hours of pay (B-159779, 1978).

That 1978 decision also said there was "no authority to grant leave to employees on regularly scheduled duty during the change to daylight savings time." Administrative leave rules have changed since then, so ask your agency how it handles the lost hour; the two options above are the ones the decisions approved.

What to Do Before Saturday Night

  • Ask your supervisor now whether you'll work the full 9 hours or be released after 8. Overtime has to be ordered or approved.
  • Check how the hour is coded. The ninth hour should show as overtime with night differential, not as regular time. Your timekeeper can confirm the code your system uses.
  • Check your leave and earnings statement for the pay period that includes November 1. Our pay stub guide shows where overtime, night differential and Sunday premium appear.
  • Push back with the sources if the hour is missing. Point your timekeeper to 5 C.F.R. § 550.111(a) and 26 Comp. Gen. 921.

Calculate Your Pay for the Extra Hour

The free Federal Overtime Pay Calculator takes your grade, step and locality plus your overtime, night and Sunday hours for the pay period. Enter 1 overtime hour, your night hours and your Sunday hours for that week to see the overtime rate, night pay and Sunday premium it adds. Use the GS Pay Calculator if you only need your 2026 hourly rate.

For special pay systems like LEAP and AUO, see our guide to premium pay that counts toward retirement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I get paid for 9 hours if I work the night daylight saving time ends?

If you are a GS employee on an ordinary 8-hour tour and you work all 9 hours, yes. Under 5 C.F.R. § 550.111(a), officially ordered or approved work over 8 hours in a day is overtime, and a 1947 Comptroller General decision (26 Comp. Gen. 921) called the fall-back hour "the one overtime hour worked." If your agency releases you after 8 actual hours, there is no ninth hour and no overtime.

Is the extra hour paid at time-and-a-half?

For an FLSA-exempt GS employee at or below GS-10 step 1, yes: overtime is 1.5 times your hourly rate of basic pay, and locality pay counts as basic pay for this purpose. Above GS-10 step 1, the overtime rate is the greater of 1.5 times the GS-10 step 1 hourly rate or your own hourly rate (5 C.F.R. § 550.113).

Do I get Sunday premium pay for the extra hour?

No. Sunday premium is 25% for your regularly scheduled 8-hour tour when any part of it falls on Sunday, including the Saturday hours of a tour that crosses midnight. OPM says Sunday premium is not paid for overtime hours, so the ninth hour gets overtime and night pay instead.

Does night pay apply to the repeated 1 a.m. hour?

For GS employees, yes. Night pay is 10% for regularly scheduled work between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., and OPM says it is paid in addition to overtime and Sunday premium. The 1947 decision credited a midnight-to-8 tour on the fall-back night with 7 hours at the night rate.

What happens in March when the clocks spring forward?

Your tour loses an hour. The Comptroller General has said an agency can charge one hour of annual leave, or let you work an hour past the end of the shift to keep 8 hours of pay. A 1978 decision said there was no authority to grant administrative leave for the lost hour; leave rules have changed since, so ask your agency how it handles it.

Sources: 15 U.S.C. § 260a (daylight saving time dates); 5 C.F.R. §§ 550.111, 550.112, 550.113, 531.610 and 551.501 (eCFR, retrieved October 28, 2026); 5 U.S.C. §§ 5343(f), 5545(a), 5546(a); 38 U.S.C. § 7453; OPM fact sheets on night pay and Sunday premium pay; Comptroller General decisions B-66366 (26 Comp. Gen. 921, 1947), B-159779 (53 Comp. Gen. 292, 1973), B-159779 (1978) and B-199261 (1981). Pay figures are FedTools calculations from the 2026 GS pay tables.