You worked Black Friday through the day after Christmas at Macy’s, pulled 50-hour weeks during the peak, and now that the dust has settled you’re looking at W-2 season wondering whether all those over-40 hours were paid correctly. Maybe you’re a seasonal colleague who was already let go. Maybe your store is one of the 66 closing in 2025, and you’re trying to finish strong while figuring out what comes next. Either way, the overtime math from those peak weeks is worth checking now, not later.
This is a working checklist. Print it, open it on your phone, do the items.
Checklist 1: Verify your overtime pay is correct
- Log into My Insite (hr.macys.net/insite/) with your Employee ID
- Open the MyDay scheduling tool and pull your actual punches for each workweek
- Open your paystub for the same period (via the Pay section in My Insite)
- Count actual hours worked per workweek (Macy’s workweek is a fixed seven-day period)
- Subtract 40 from each workweek total; that’s your expected overtime hours
- Compare your expected overtime hours against the paystub’s overtime line
- Calculate whether your overtime rate reflects any commission or non-discretionary bonuses earned that week
- Flag any meal breaks that were auto-deducted but you actually worked through
- Flag any hours from multiple Macy’s locations (if you floated) not combined toward the 40-hour threshold
The federal rule, stated plainly
Macy’s follows the Fair Labor Standards Act for non-exempt hourly colleagues. That means:
- 1.5x your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek
- Regular rate is base pay plus non-discretionary bonuses, commission earnings, and shift differentials earned that week
- Workweek is a fixed seven-day period
The commission piece matters more at Macy’s than at most retailers because many colleagues in cosmetics, shoes, fine jewelry, and men’s suits earn commission on top of base. Commission is non-discretionary compensation, which means it blends into your regular rate for overtime purposes, which means your overtime rate in commission weeks should be higher than 1.5x your base pay. If your paystub shows overtime calculated only on base rate in a commission week, that’s a problem.
Checklist 2: If you’re a commission-earning colleague
- Identify each workweek during the relevant period when you earned commission
- Pull the commission amount from your paystub for each of those weeks
- Calculate your effective hourly rate for each week: (base pay + commission) / hours worked
- Your overtime rate for that week should be 1.5x that effective hourly rate, not just 1.5x base
- Compare against what your paystub actually paid
- If the paystub used base rate only for the overtime calculation, you’re owed the difference
Example: You earn $15/hour base, worked 45 hours, earned $150 commission that week.
- Total compensation at straight time: ($15 × 45) + $150 = $675 + $150 = $825
- Effective hourly rate: $825 / 45 = $18.33/hour
- Overtime rate: $18.33 × 1.5 = $27.50/hour (not $22.50)
- OT premium owed: 5 hours × ($27.50 – $18.33) = 5 × $9.17 = $45.85
A paystub showing 40 hours at $15 + 5 hours at $22.50 plus commission separately is short by about $45 that week. Across a peak season with many such weeks, the missing amount adds up.
Checklist 3: If you’re a seasonal colleague
- Confirm your seasonal dates and total hours worked
- Gather every paystub from the season (download from My Insite before access ends)
- Cross-check each workweek for correct overtime calculation
- Confirm your final paycheck included any unpaid overtime from the last workweek
- Note your state’s final paycheck timing rules (most require final pay within days of separation)
Seasonal colleagues are just as eligible for overtime as year-round colleagues. FLSA doesn’t distinguish between seasonal and permanent. If you worked over 40 in a workweek, you earned time and a half on the hours above 40, period.
One thing to watch: seasonal colleagues are sometimes “let go” without formal notice, and the final paycheck sometimes arrives without the last workweek’s overtime calculated correctly. This is where a lot of wage complaints against major retailers actually happen. The Macy’s final paycheck laws by state guide walks through the state-specific timing rules.
Checklist 4: Address timecard issues the right way
- Never edit your own timecard in MyDay (this can lead to termination)
- Ask your direct supervisor or department manager to enter corrections in the system
- Make corrections before the pay period closes when possible
- Request a note be added explaining the reason for the edit
- Take a screenshot of the corrected timecard
- If the correction reverts or never goes in, escalate to store HR
Checklist 5: When to escalate
- If your store manager won’t fix it within one pay period, escalate to HR through the paths in Macy’s HR contact guides
- Use the Password Manager at pwr.macys.net if you’re locked out of My Insite
- File a formal case so there’s a documented record
- If internal channels stall, file with the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division at dol.gov/agencies/whd or 1-866-487-9243
- State labor departments (especially in California, New York, and New Jersey, where Macy’s has large workforces) handle state-specific claims and are often faster than federal
Retaliation for raising a wage question is illegal under FLSA. Being the colleague who asked does not legally change your standing.
State rules that apply regardless of Macy’s policy
Daily overtime rules apply in these states, on top of the federal weekly rule:
- California: 1.5x after 8 hrs/day, 2x after 12 hrs/day, 7th-consecutive-day rules
- Alaska: 1.5x after 8 hrs/day
- Colorado: 1.5x after 12 hrs/day
- Nevada: 1.5x after 8 hrs/day for colleagues under 1.5x state minimum wage
Macy’s has locations in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, and many other states. State law controls when it’s more generous than federal. If your California paystub only shows weekly overtime and you worked more than 8 hours in a day, flag it.
Exempt roles at Macy’s
Salaried store managers, group sales managers, and corporate leaders are typically exempt from overtime under FLSA if they meet:
- Salary above the federal threshold ($35,568/year currently)
- Primary duty in management or qualifying administrative work
- Supervisory responsibility or independent judgment
Assistant store managers and department managers vary. Some are salaried exempt, some are hourly non-exempt, depending on the store and classification. If you’re salaried and spend most of your time doing the same work as commission-earning colleagues (selling on the floor, ringing, receiving), your exemption may not hold legally. Request your written FLSA classification.
Checklist 6: After you leave Macy’s
- Download all paystubs and timecards before your My Insite access ends
- Save W-2 access info for TheWorkNumber.com (the former-employee path)
- If you suspect missing overtime, gather documentation while still employed
- Request time records in writing from HR if you’ve already left; employers must maintain and provide these under FLSA
- File wage claims within two years of the underpaid shift (three if willful)
More on the W-2 process for former colleagues in the Macy’s W-2 for former employees guide.
What “Bold New Chapter” means for your overtime rights
Macy’s announced the closure of 150 stores by January 2027 under its “Bold New Chapter” restructuring (66 in 2025, 14 in 2026, the rest through early 2027). Closure waves tend to produce more wage-claim issues, not fewer, because timecards close quickly, final paychecks are processed hurriedly, and HR staff get cut.
The legal framework doesn’t change during a restructuring. Your overtime rights, your two-year claim window, and your access to federal and state wage enforcement all continue. What changes is that you need to document faster and save everything outside the company system before portal access ends.
Short FAQ
Does Macy’s pay holiday overtime? No. Working Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or Christmas doesn’t trigger overtime by itself. Only your weekly total crossing 40 does.
Does the 20% employee discount count toward regular rate? No. Employee discounts aren’t wages.
Payactiv (50% earned wages early) affects my overtime? No. Payactiv is a payment timing tool, not a wage adjustment. Overtime calculation stays the same.
Do Bloomingdale’s colleagues have different overtime rules? No. Macy’s Inc. covers Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury under the same payroll and FLSA structure.
For the underlying federal rules, see our federal overtime pay rules guide. For PTO interactions with the 40-hour threshold, Macy’s PTO policies covers how vacation and sick time work.
Back to the main Macy’s employee page for more resources.