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California daily overtime rules
California pays overtime by the day as well as the week. Hours over 8 in a workday are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate, hours over 12 at double time. On the seventh consecutive workday the first 8 hours are 1.5 times and the rest double. Weekly hours over 40 are 1.5 times, no hour counted twice.
The four thresholds in Labor Code section 510
California Labor Code section 510 sets four separate triggers for nonexempt employees. First, any work over eight hours in one workday is paid at no less than one and one half times the regular rate. Second, any work over 12 hours in one workday is paid at no less than twice the regular rate. Third, any work over 40 hours in one workweek is paid at one and one half times. Fourth, on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, the first eight hours are paid at one and one half times and any hours beyond eight are paid at double time.
The statute defines a day's work as eight hours. A workday is any consecutive 24 hour period starting at the same time each calendar day, and a workweek is any seven consecutive 24 hour periods starting on the same calendar day each week. The employer chooses both, but must apply them consistently.
The Department of Industrial Relations notes that overtime is owed whether or not it was authorized. An employee suffered or permitted to work must be paid for the time, although the employer can still discipline the worker for violating a policy that requires prior approval.
Daily overtime and weekly overtime do not stack on the same hour
The most common confusion is whether an hour that already earned daily overtime also counts toward the 40 hour weekly trigger. Section 510 answers this directly: nothing in the section requires an employer to combine more than one rate of overtime compensation to calculate the amount owed for any hour of overtime work. In practice, hours already paid at a daily premium are counted once, and the weekly 40 hour test applies to the remaining straight time hours.
Practical method: go day by day first. Split each day into straight time (up to 8), time and a half (over 8 through 12), and double time (over 12). Then add up only the straight time hours across the week. If that straight time total exceeds 40, the hours over 40 move from straight time to time and a half.
Example with a long Monday. An employee works 13, 8, 8, 8, and 8 hours Monday through Friday, 45 hours total. Monday produces 8 straight, 4 at 1.5 times, and 1 at double time. The other days are 8 straight each. Straight time hours total 40, so the weekly test adds nothing. Pay is 40 straight hours, 4 hours at 1.5 times, and 1 hour at 2 times.
Finding the regular rate of pay in California
The regular rate is the basis for every premium, and it is not always the base hourly wage. The Department of Industrial Relations explains that it includes hourly earnings, salary, piecework earnings, and commissions, and it cannot be lower than the applicable minimum wage.
For a salaried nonexempt employee, the state's example converts a $5,200 monthly salary into an hourly rate: $5,200 times 12 is $62,400 a year, divided by 52 is $1,200 a week, divided by 40 is a $30 regular rate. Overtime on that employee is $45 for time and a half and $60 for double time.
For two hourly rates in one week, use the weighted average. The state example is 32 hours at $11 and 10 hours at $9, which earns $442 over 42 hours, so the regular rate is $10.52. Alternative workweek schedules of four 10 hour days or three 12 hour days, adopted through the formal election process in most Wage Orders, do not change the regular rate; they only change when daily overtime begins.
Worked example: a six day week with one 13 hour shift
Take an employee paid $22 per hour who works Monday 10, Tuesday 9, Wednesday 8, Thursday 13, Friday 8, Saturday 6, Sunday off. That is 54 hours worked. Because Sunday is off, the seventh day rule does not apply.
Daily split: Monday 8 straight and 2 at 1.5. Tuesday 8 straight and 1 at 1.5. Wednesday 8 straight. Thursday 8 straight, 4 at 1.5, 1 at 2.0. Friday 8 straight. Saturday 6 straight. Straight time hours add up to 46. That is 6 over 40, so 6 of the Saturday and Friday straight hours move to time and a half.
Final tally: 40 hours at $22 is $880. Time and a half hours are 2 plus 1 plus 4 plus 6, which is 13 hours at $33, for $429. Double time is 1 hour at $44. Gross pay is $1,353. A federal only calculation would have paid 40 straight plus 14 hours at $33, for $1,342, so the California rules add $11 here and far more in weeks with several long days. A weekly timecard tool with a California daily rule setting, such as Benchlet's timecard calculator, applies this split per row so the day by day tally does not have to be done by hand.
Seventh consecutive day premiums
The seventh day rule applies when an employee works all seven days of a single workweek. The first eight hours on that seventh day are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate even if the employee's weekly total is still under 40, and hours over eight on that day are double time.
The seven days must fall in the same defined workweek. Working Wednesday through the following Tuesday spans two workweeks and does not trigger the premium unless one of those workweeks itself contains seven worked days. This is one reason the employer's chosen workweek start day matters.
Labor Code section 551 and 552 separately entitle employees to one day of rest in seven, and the Department of Industrial Relations notes an employer can be penalized for causing or inducing an employee to forgo a day of rest. Section 510 does not apply to employees working under a properly adopted alternative workweek schedule under sections 511 or 514, or to those covered by section 554 exemptions.
What does not count toward the thresholds
Overtime is based on hours actually worked. Paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave hours in which no work was performed do not count toward the 8 hour daily or 40 hour weekly thresholds. A week with a paid Monday holiday and four 10 hour days has 8 hours of daily overtime (2 per day) but no weekly overtime.
Unpaid 30 minute meal periods are not hours worked and should be subtracted from each shift before the daily split. Paid 10 minute rest breaks are hours worked and stay in. Keep the timecard record with the daily breakdown; California requires employers to keep accurate records of daily hours and to itemize overtime on the wage statement.
Frequently asked questions
When does double time start in California?
After 12 hours of work in a single workday, and after 8 hours of work on the seventh consecutive day worked in one workweek. Both are paid at twice the regular rate.
If I work 10 hours a day for four days, do I get overtime?
Yes, 2 hours of time and a half each day, 8 hours total, unless your employer has a properly adopted alternative workweek schedule under Labor Code section 511, in which case daily overtime begins after 10 hours.
Do daily overtime hours also count toward the 40 hour week?
No. Section 510 does not require combining two rates for the same hour. Count straight time hours only when testing the 40 hour weekly threshold.
What is the regular rate for a salaried nonexempt employee?
Annual salary divided by 52 weeks divided by 40 hours. The state's example is $5,200 a month, which works out to $30 per hour.
Is overtime owed if I was told not to work extra hours?
Yes. California requires payment for all hours the employee is suffered or permitted to work, authorized or not. The employer may discipline the employee for breaking the rule but must still pay.
