How to Calculate Weekly Pay

Your weekly pay is either figured in terms of a salary that you earn each week regardless of the number of hours you work, or based on your hourly wage and the number of hours you work. Your gross weekly pay is the total amount you earn before your employer deducts the taxes that he must withhold and send to state and federal agencies. Your net weekly pay is the amount that you actually receive in your paycheck once these taxes have been subtracted from the gross amount.

Things You Will Need

• Employee hour log

• Calculator

Add the number of hours you worked each day of the weekly to calculate your total hours for the week. Multiply this number by your hourly wage to calculate your gross weekly pay if your earnings are based on a wage rather than a salary. If you worked more than 40 hours during the week, multiply the first 40 hours by your regular weekly pay and multiply number of hours in excess of forty by 1 1/2 times your weekly pay (if you are eligible for overtime pay). Add these sums together to calculate your gross weekly pay.

Divide your annual salary by 52 to calculate your gross weekly pay if your employer compensates you on a salary basis.

Calculate your net weekly pay by multiplying your gross weekly pay by 0.0765 to determine the amount of Social Security and Medicare tax your employer will withhold. Also look up your federal income tax withholding by consulting a federal tax table and finding the column that corresponds to the number of deductions that you claimed on your W-4 form. Look up your state's income tax rate on your state revenue department's website and calculate that percentage of your gross pay as well. Add your total tax withholdings and subtract this amount from your gross weekly pay to calculate your net weekly pay.