California overtime rules: daily, weekly and seventh-day overtime

California daily overtime rules in one table

California has the strictest overtime rules in the country: long days trigger overtime, not just long weeks. These are the rules in California Labor Code section 510 for most nonexempt employees.

A workday is any consecutive 24-hour period starting at the same time each day, and a workweek is a fixed, recurring period of seven consecutive days. You choose both, but they can't move around to dodge overtime, so write them down.

Overtime is paid on the employee's regular rate of pay, which includes nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials and some other pay, not just the hourly wage; see how to calculate overtime. Some industries have their own rules under their Industrial Welfare Commission wage order, so check the order for your industry.

Does California pay overtime after 8 hours?

Yes. A nonexempt employee in California who works more than 8 hours in a workday earns 1.5× for every hour past 8, even if they work fewer than 40 hours that week.

Example: a $22-an-hour worker works one 10-hour day and nothing else that week. They earn 8 × $22 = $176, plus 2 × $33 = $66, for $242. Under federal law alone, with only 10 hours in the week, all 10 would be straight time: $220.

How daily and weekly overtime combine

Count each hour once, at the highest rate that applies. Hours already paid as daily overtime (or seventh-day overtime) don't also count toward the 40 hours that trigger weekly overtime; weekly overtime applies to the regular, non-overtime hours above 40.

A reliable way to work out any week:

1. 1Split each day. Up to 8 hours are regular, hours 8 to 12 are 1.5×, and hours over 12 are 2×. Apply the seventh-day rule if the employee worked all seven days.
2. 2Run a total of regular hours. Add each day's regular hours in order. Once the running total passes 40, regular hours from that point on are paid at 1.5× instead.
3. 3Pay each bucket at its rate. Regular hours at the regular rate, then the 1.5× and 2× hours.

Worked examples

All three examples use a $20 regular rate and a Monday to Sunday workweek, with no alternative workweek schedule.

A 5 × 10 week

Monday to Friday, 10 hours a day: 50 hours.

• Each day: 8 regular hours and 2 hours at 1.5×.
• The week: 40 regular hours (not over 40, so no weekly overtime) and 10 hours at 1.5×.
• Pay: 40 × $20 = $800, plus 10 × $30 = $300, for $1,100.

A 6-day week

Monday 10 hours, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 8, Thursday 8, Friday 8 and Saturday 6: 50 hours.

• Daily overtime: 2 hours Monday and 2 hours Tuesday, so 4 hours at 1.5×.
• Regular hours: 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 6 = 46. The running total reaches 40 at the end of Friday, so Saturday's 6 hours become weekly overtime at 1.5×.
• The week: 40 regular hours and 10 hours at 1.5×.
• Pay: $800 + $300 = $1,100.

The common mistake here is counting both: 4 daily overtime hours plus 10 weekly hours (50 − 40) makes 14 overtime hours, which pays Monday's and Tuesday's extra hours twice.

A 7-day week

Monday to Saturday, 8 hours a day, then Sunday 10 hours: 58 hours. Sunday is the seventh consecutive day of work in the workweek.

• Monday to Friday: 40 regular hours.
• Saturday: 8 hours, all past 40 regular hours, so 8 hours at 1.5×.
• Sunday (seventh day): the first 8 hours at 1.5× and 2 hours at 2×.
• The week: 40 regular hours, 16 hours at 1.5× and 2 hours at 2×.
• Pay: $800 + 16 × $30 ($480) + 2 × $40 ($80) = $1,360.

The examples side by side

The last column shows what the same week would pay under the federal FLSA alone, which only counts hours over 40 in the week.

The 4 × 12 row shows where California's rules cost the most: every day has 4 hours of daily overtime, even though the week is only 8 hours over 40. Run your own weeks through the California overtime calculator.

Seventh-day overtime in California

The seventh-day rule applies when an employee works on all seven days of a single workweek. The first 8 hours on that seventh day are paid at 1.5×, and any hours beyond 8 at 2×, no matter how many hours were worked earlier in the week.

Two details trip people up. First, it's the seventh day within one workweek: seven days in a row that straddle two workweeks don't trigger it. Second, it applies even to short days, so 4 hours on the seventh day are all paid at 1.5×.

California double time

Double time, 2× the regular rate, applies in two situations: hours over 12 in a workday, and hours over 8 on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.

Example: a 14-hour day at $20 an hour pays 8 × $20 = $160, plus 4 × $30 = $120, plus 2 × $40 = $80, for $360.

Alternative workweek schedules

California lets employers adopt an alternative workweek schedule, such as four 10-hour days, under which employees can work up to 10 hours a day without daily overtime, as long as the week stays within 40 hours. Adopting one takes a secret-ballot election in which at least two-thirds of the affected employees vote yes, along with notice and filing requirements, and hours beyond the scheduled day still earn overtime.

The procedures are strict and vary by wage order, and a schedule adopted incorrectly can mean back pay for every long day. Check the Labor Commissioner's guidance, or ask an employment lawyer, before relying on one.

Common California overtime mistakes

Most California overtime errors come from applying federal habits to California's daily rules.

• Only checking the weekly total. A 36-hour week with two 10-hour days still owes 4 hours of overtime.
• Counting the same hours twice. Daily overtime hours don't also count toward the weekly 40.
• Using the base wage instead of the regular rate. Nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials raise the overtime rate.
• Rounding across the 8-hour line. Rounding an 8-hour-6-minute shift down to 8 hours erases overtime; keep exact punches (see time clock rounding rules).
• Assuming salaried means exempt. California's exempt salary minimum is at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, higher than the federal level, and the job duties have to qualify too.
• Letting a forgotten clock-out become overtime. An open shift that runs overnight looks like a 16-hour day; review flagged shifts before payroll (see forgot to clock out).

California overtime and the federal no-tax-on-overtime deduction

Only overtime the FLSA requires, meaning hours over 40 in a workweek, counts as qualified overtime for the federal deduction. California daily overtime in a week of 40 hours or fewer doesn't. A 4 × 10 week without an alternative workweek schedule has 8 hours of California daily overtime and no FLSA overtime, so none of it qualifies. See no tax on overtime for employers.

Tracking it with a time clock

Daily overtime depends on exact daily hours, so the time clock matters more in California than anywhere else. TrackBadges applies one daily threshold (8 hours) and one weekly threshold (40 hours) to every timesheet and never changes the raw punches. It doesn't calculate double time or seventh-day overtime, so if your crew works 12-hour days or seven days in a row, apply those in payroll or with the calculator before you pay.