CNA shift differential

Typical CNA / nursing assistant differentials

Ranges are the lowest and highest figures in the linked contracts, statutes and employer postings, not averages; your employer's rate is set by its own contract or policy. Figures reported only on Indeed or Reddit are described in the text as self-reported and never used in this table.

Price your own week

Preloaded with the national median wage and a mid-range differential from the table; change any field.

How overtime works for CNA / nursing assistants

CNAs are covered by the standard FLSA rule, time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek (29 U.S.C. 207(a)), or by the 8-and-80 system if the hospital or nursing home has elected it under 207(j): overtime after 8 hours in a day or 80 hours in 14 days, with a prior agreement or understanding with the affected employees (DOL Fact Sheet #54). California pays daily overtime at 1.5× after 8 hours and 2× after 12. The regular rate used for overtime must include the shift differential; Fact Sheet #54 names the failure to include shift differentials as a common error in healthcare payroll, and 29 CFR 778.207(b) makes the inclusion mandatory whether the differential is a percentage or cents per hour. No federal law requires holiday premium pay.

What hospitals, nursing homes and the VA actually pay

Employers rarely publish CNA differentials outside a union contract, and the contracts show a wide spread. Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia (SEIU 1199NW, 2024–27) pays CNAs $2.00 for evenings, $4.00 for nights and $2.50 for weekends, with the weekend running from 11 p.m. Friday to 10:59 p.m. Sunday. The University of Rochester's general tier pays $1.00 evening, $1.75 night and $2.75 for weekend nights. In New York City the 1199SEIU League contract pays ten percent of salary for shifts that end after 7 p.m. or start before 6 a.m.

Nursing homes pay much less. The SEIU 503 contract for Prestige nursing homes in Oregon sets evening at $0.25 to $0.35 an hour and night at $0.50 to $1.50. That is the low end of every figure on this site, and it is a union rate; non-union nursing homes often pay nothing extra, and where they do the amount is set by policy and can change without notice. Hybrid Title 38 nursing assistants at the VA are the high end: 10% for nights and 25% for weekends under 38 U.S.C. 7454.

Because the differential is a fixed number of dollars while the base is low, it is a large share of CNA pay. $4.00 on a $20.32 base is a 20% raise for every night hour; $1.50 is 7%. Two employers a mile apart can differ by more on differential than on base rate, so ask for both numbers when comparing offers.

Holidays: what contracts pay and what the law does not require

The FLSA does not require any premium for working a holiday; it is a contract or policy matter. Providence St. Peter pays time and a half on holiday hours, an older 1199SEIU contract for Greater New York nursing homes pays time and a half plus a regular day's pay, and the VA pays double time. Most employers also keep paying the shift differential on the holiday hours, and the holiday pay calculator stacks the two.

If your employer pays straight time on Thanksgiving night, that is legal under federal law. What is not legal is computing your overtime for that week on base rate alone when you earned a differential; the differential must be in the regular rate.

Negotiating and checking your paystub

A short checklist for an offer or a first paystub.

• —Get the differential in writing with its window: a $4.00 night rate that only pays 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. is worth $32 on a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. twelve, not $48.
• —Ask whether weekend and night stack; Providence pays both, and most hospital contracts do.
• —If you pick up a fourth twelve, 8 of those hours are overtime and the rate must include your differential: on $20.32 base with $2.50 nights all week, that is half of $22.82, not half of $20.32.
• —A percentage differential (the NYC 10% model) grows with every raise; a flat one does not, so ask when it was last increased.

FAQ

Sources

1. BLS OES Nursing Assistants (31-1131), May 2025 national median
2. SEIU 1199NW / Providence St. Peter Hospital service CBA 2024–27, Art. 8–9
3. University of Rochester shift differential policy
4. 1199SEIU / League of Voluntary Hospitals CBA (NYC), Art. XIV
5. SEIU 503 / Prestige nursing homes (Oregon) contract
6. 38 U.S.C. 7454: VA LPN and nursing assistant premium pay
7. 1199SEIU / Greater New York nursing homes contract
8. DOL Fact Sheet #54: hospital and residential-care overtime (8 and 80)
9. 29 CFR 778.207: shift differentials in the regular rate
10. 29 U.S.C. 207 (FLSA overtime)
11. DOL: holiday pay is not required by the FLSA

BLS medians are the May 2025 national OES estimates. Contract figures are as written in the linked agreements on the date above; check the current agreement for your employer. Last reviewed 2026-08-27.