Overtime and state rules · rules read October 11, 2026
Double time pay: when the rate doubles and what it adds
Enter the hours paid at twice the rate and your regular rate, or a week of days, to see the double time line of the paycheck.
Written by Radif Partners · How the hours are counted · Editorial policy
Double-time rate
$36.00
per hour, 2x of $18.00
| Premium part of each hour | $18.00 |
| Pay for 2.00 h at 2x | $72.00 |
| Pay for 30.00 regular hours | $540.00 |
| Total gross pay | $612.00 |
The multiplier applies to the regular rate, which includes nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials (Fact Sheet #23). How this is calculated.
Double time is pay at twice the regular rate, and among the four states with daily overtime only California requires it by statute. Under Labor Code 510, as the state Labor Commissioner explains it, every hour past 12 in a single workday is paid at double the rate, and so is every hour past 8 on the seventh consecutive day of work in the workweek. Alaska, Nevada and Colorado stop at time and a half, and federal law never requires more than 1.5 times the regular rate. Outside California, double time exists only when a union contract, an employment agreement or a company policy promises it, often for holidays or call-backs. At $24 an hour, a California week with one fourteen-hour day holds 2 double-time hours worth $96.00, and the week pays $1,200.00 gross against $1,176.00 for the same hours under the FLSA alone.
California seventh consecutive day
Seventh day pay
$352.00
| Seventh day at 1.5x | 8.00 h |
| Seventh day at 2x | 2.00 h |
| Double time hours in the week | 2.00 h |
All seven days worked: the seventh day rule applies.
The two California triggers, worked through
The Labor Commissioner’s overtime FAQ reads Labor Code 510 in plain terms. A nonexempt employee earns time and a half for hours past 8 in a workday, double time for hours past 12 in that same workday, time and a half for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, and double time beyond that.
The fourteen-hour Wednesday is the simplest case. At $24 an hour in a week of 46 hours, Wednesday splits into 8 straight hours, 4 at time and a half and 2 at double time. The other days stay at 8 hours, so straight time reaches exactly 40 and nothing more turns into weekly overtime. Total pay comes to $1,200.00. In Texas or Ohio, the same 46 hours give 6 overtime hours and no double time, for $1,176.00: the gap of $24.00 is exactly what the long day is worth under California law.
| Week at the stated rate | Total hours | Straight | At 1.5x | At 2x | Gross pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One 14-hour day, $24/h (CA) | 46 | 40 | 4 | 2 | $1,200.00 |
| Same week, FLSA only | 46 | 40 | 6 | 0 | $1,176.00 |
| Seven days, 10 h on day 7, $22/h (CA) | 54 | 40 | 12 | 2 | $1,364.00 |
| Six 5-hour days and a 9-hour day 7 (CA) | 39 | 30 | 8 | 1 | $968.00 |
| Three 13-hour days, $26/h (CA) | 39 | 24 | 12 | 3 | $1,248.00 |
The seventh-day rows show the second trigger. In the full 54-hour week, the ten-hour seventh day gives 8 hours at time and a half and 2 at double time, while the four-hour Saturday falls past the weekly line. In the short week of six five-hour days, the weekly threshold is never reached, yet the nine-hour Sunday still produces double time because all seven days were worked. A single day off anywhere in the workweek resets the count: the employer's fixed workweek decides which seven days are looked at, not a rolling calendar.
Double time outside California: contracts and policies
Alaska and Nevada add daily overtime at 8 hours and Colorado at 12, but all three pay those hours at time and a half, never twice the rate. The federal rule in 29 U.S.C. 207 sets the same ceiling of obligation: 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours, and Fact Sheet #23 adds that no premium is owed for weekends or holidays as such.
Double time elsewhere is a promise, not a statute. Collective bargaining agreements in construction, utilities, transit and hospitals often pay twice the rate for Sundays, holidays, call-backs after a shift or hours past a set daily figure. Some employers write it into a policy to staff a holiday. When that happens, the contract defines the trigger, the rate and the hours it covers. Keep the agreement next to the time card; the calculator above accepts any number of double-time hours, whatever their origin.
For the full split of a week under each state's rule, the overtime calculator runs the daily and weekly steps; the California overtime guide adds the meal and minimum wage rules that go with them, and the time and a half calculator gives the rate one step below.