Overtime and state rules · rules read October 11, 2026
California overtime: the daily, weekly and seventh-day count
The calculator is locked on California: type each day of your workweek and your rate to see straight time, time and a half and double time.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Overtime pay this week
$234.00
8.00 h at 1.5x, 0.50 h at 2x · gross $954.00
| Total hours | 48.50 h |
| Regular hours | 40.00 h × $18.00 |
| Overtime hours | 8.00 h × $27.00 |
| Double-time hours | 0.50 h × $36.00 |
| Gross pay before taxes | $954.00 |
California: overtime after 8 hours a day, double time after 12, seventh consecutive day rule and after 40 hours a week. Days are in workweek order. How this is calculated.
California overtime starts after 8 hours in a workday, not only after 40 hours in a week. Labor Code 510, as the Labor Commissioner (DLSE) explains it, pays time and a half for hours past 8 up to 12 in one day, double time past 12, time and a half for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek and double time after that, plus time and a half for straight-time hours beyond 40 in the week. Each hour is paid once, at the highest rate it qualifies for. The practical effect shows on a four-day schedule: four ten-hour days at $20 contain 8 overtime hours in California and pay $880.00, while the same 40 hours earn $800.00 under federal law alone. The state minimum wage is $16.90 an hour since January 1, 2026, which puts the minimum overtime rate at $25.35.
One long day in California: how the hours split
Pay for the day
$225.00
| Regular | 8.00 h |
| Overtime 1.5x | 3.00 h |
| Double time 2x | 0.00 h |
Same day under the federal rule alone: $198.00, no overtime until 40 hours in the week.
Labor Code 510 as the Labor Commissioner applies it
The DLSE overtime FAQ lists five layers, and payroll applies them in this order. First the day: past 8 hours the rate rises to 1.5 times, past 12 hours to double. Then the seventh consecutive day in a workweek, which is premium from its first hour. Last the week: straight-time hours that pass 40 become overtime. The employer's workweek is fixed and recurring, seven consecutive 24-hour periods, and the seventh-day rule only bites when all seven of those days were worked.
Nothing in California law lets a long Monday be offset by a short Friday, and nothing makes Saturday or Sunday special by name. What counts is the place of the day in the workweek. If the workweek starts on a Wednesday, the seventh consecutive day is a Tuesday. The rate that gets multiplied is the regular rate of pay, not always the posted wage; the regular rate page shows the arithmetic when a week holds two hourly rates.
Three California weeks on the time card
| Workweek | Rate | Straight | At 1.5x | At 2x | Gross pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four 10-hour days | $20 | 32 | 8 | 0 | $880.00 |
| Six 9-hour days | $18 | 40 | 14 | 0 | $1,098.00 |
| Five 8-hour days and a 6-hour Saturday | $16.90 | 40 | 6 | 0 | $828.10 |
| Seven 7-hour days | $21 | 40 | 9 | 0 | $1,123.50 |
The six-day row is the one that surprises people. Each nine-hour day carries 1 daily overtime hour, which makes 6 for the week. The straight-time hours, 8 a day, reach 40 at the end of the fifth day, so the sixth day's straight portion turns into weekly overtime as well: 14 premium hours in total and $1,098.00 at $18. A federal-only calculation would find 14 overtime hours, the same count here by coincidence, all of them piled on the fifth and sixth days instead of spread across the week.
The minimum-wage row shows the floor. At $16.90 the six-hour Saturday falls entirely past the weekly line, and the week pays $828.10 before deductions. A double-time hour at that wage is worth $33.80. For hours paid twice the rate in more detail, see the double time calculator.
Exempt salary, minimum wage and breaks in 2026
An employee is outside these rules only if the duties qualify and the salary reaches twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, according to the Labor Commissioner’s exemptions FAQ. With the 2026 minimum wage of $16.90, the threshold is $70,304 a year. A manager on $62,000 in Sacramento is therefore owed overtime in California even though the same pay clears the federal $35,568 level by a wide margin. The exempt versus nonexempt guide goes through the duties tests.
Breaks affect the time card too. A 30-minute meal period is due for a workday of more than 5 hours and a second one past 10 hours, and a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours or major fraction, with none required for a workday under 3.5 hours (meal periods FAQ, rest periods FAQ). Each day without a compliant break adds 1 hour of pay at the regular rate. The meal and rest breaks page compares those rules with the federal ones.