Maryland paycheck calculator employers use for hourly paychecks
The paycheck calculator from Beyond, located at the top of this page, makes it simple to double-check your calculations for hourly employees and ensure your workers receive the correct take-home pay.
How is Payroll Different for Hourly and Salaried Employees?
Ultimately, the process of running payroll is quite similar for virtually any type of employee. You start with their gross wages (the total money they’ve earned in a given pay period) and then deduct local, state, and federal payroll taxes, plus any additional payroll deductions for items such as health benefits, retirement plans, or garnishments.
The journey from gross wages to net wages (or take-home pay) doesn’t change much. The primary distinction between payroll for hourly and salaried employees lies in how you calculate those gross wages in the first place.
Gross Wages for Hourly Employees
For workers whose compensation is based on the hours they work, you determine their gross wages by multiplying the number of hours worked during a pay period by their hourly pay rate.
This is generally straightforward, but a number of states have overtime laws which can increase an employee’s pay rate if they work more than a certain number of hours in a day or in a week (typically 8 hours/day or 40 hours/week). Be diligent in accounting for these rules when calculating paychecks for hourly workers.
Gross Wages for Salaried Employees
For employees who receive an annual salary, gross pay is calculated by dividing their annual salary by the number of pay periods in a year.2 For example, if an employee earned an annual salary of $100,000, this is what their gross wages would be for different pay periods (assuming there are no other pre-tax deductions):
| Pay Schedule | Gross Wages (based on $100k salary) |
| Weekly (52 pay periods/year) | $1,923.08 |
| Bi-Weekly (26 pay periods/year) | $3,846.15 |
| Bi-Monthly (24 pay periods/year) | $4,166.67 |
| Monthly (12 pay periods/year) | $8,333.33 |
Who Should Be Salaried and Who Should Be Paid Hourly?
When hiring an employee, employers have some discretion in choosing who is paid hourly and who is paid a salary. Generally, employees whose hours are fixed (or consistent), and those at higher compensation levels, are offered a salary. Employees at lower compensation levels whose hours are more variable tend to receive an hourly paycheck.
Regardless of how you structure compensation, a few crucial rules must be followed—most notably the rules for exempt and non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In a nutshell, the FLSA mandates that employees should be entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week, unless they are “exempt” and fit into one of these categories:
– They are an executive
– They offer skilled professional services
– They have administrative or management responsibilities
– They are highly compensated (earning more than $151,164 per year in 2025)
– They are a computer programmer or analyst
– They have an outside sales role
There are a number of other minor exceptions. Take a closer look at the classification of exempt and non-exempt employees or reach out to an employment or tax professional if you have more questions.
Getting from Gross Wages to a Paycheck
Once you’ve calculated gross wages, it’s time to determine the actual payroll by withholding federal, state, and local payroll taxes and applying any other deductions that might apply to an employee. This process basically works the same for all employees, whether they are salaried or hourly. See more on how to calculate payroll taxes if you want to dive into the specifics.
Further Information for Maryland Employers
Finished using the Maryland paycheck calculator built for employers? Here’s more MD state information:
State Minimum Wage: $15.00 per hour in 2025.
Is Workers’ Comp a requirement? Yes, for most employers. Learn more about Maryland workers’ compensation rules.
New Hire Reporting Required? Yes.
2025 SUI (State Unemployment Insurance) Rate Taxable Wage Base: $8,500.
– Rates range from 0.3% to 7.5%.
– Tax rate for new employees: 2.6%.
This article (and the mentioned paycheck calculator tool) is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on for tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, and accounting advisors for formal consultation and final payroll numbers.