California Overtime Calculator
California is the state where the federal calculation stops working. The FLSA only asks whether you passed 40 hours in a week; California asks that plus how long each individual day ran, and adds a rule for the seventh consecutive day in a workweek. A worker on four 10-hour days has zero federal overtime and eight hours of California overtime.
This calculator applies both layers and — importantly — never pays a premium on the same hour twice. Enter hours day by day, and the daily rules are applied first; only straight-time hours are then tested against the weekly threshold, which is how the two systems are meant to interact.
FLSA is 40.
1.5 = time and a half.
California is 8.
Leave blank if none.
Nondiscretionary pay must be folded into the regular rate.
Total pay for the week
$1,440.00
Includes $168.00 of overtime premium.
- Regular rate
- $24.00
- Straight time (40 hrs)
- $960.00
- Overtime (12 hrs)
- $432.00
- Double time (1 hrs)
- $48.00
At $36.00 per hour.
At $48.00 per hour.
Estimates based on FLSA rules. State law may require more, exemption status affects whether overtime is owed at all, and this is not legal advice — check your jurisdiction.
Starting values are set for a typical california scenario — change any field to match yours. Need the plain version? Overtime Calculator.
The three California thresholds
California overtime is owed on whichever basis gives the employee more. The daily rules are the ones that catch employers used to federal-only compliance.
| Trigger | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Over 8 hours in a workday | 1.5x | The rule with no federal equivalent |
| Over 12 hours in a workday | 2x | Double time, replacing 1.5x for those hours |
| Over 40 straight-time hours in a week | 1.5x | Hours already paid a daily premium are excluded |
| First 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day | 1.5x | Applies when all seven days of the workweek are worked |
| Over 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day | 2x | Double time for the remainder of that day |
Worked example: four tens and a thirteen
At $24 an hour, working 10, 10, 10, 10 and 13 hours is 53 hours. Federal rules would give 13 hours of overtime. California produces a different and larger figure.
| Category | Hours | Rate | Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight time | 40 | $24.00 | $960.00 |
| Daily overtime | 12 | $36.00 | $432.00 |
| Double time (13th hour) | 1 | $48.00 | $48.00 |
| Total | 53 | — | $1,440.00 |
What else California treats differently
- Alternative workweek schedules — a properly adopted 4/10 schedule can avoid daily overtime on those 10-hour days, but adoption requires a secret-ballot election and specific procedures. Getting it wrong invalidates the whole schedule.
- Meal and rest premiums. A missed meal or rest break owes one additional hour of pay at the regular rate. These premiums are separate from overtime, and California courts have held they must be paid at the regular rate rather than the base rate.
- Regular rate inclusions. As federally, nondiscretionary bonuses and shift differentials must be folded in — and California uses a different divisor than the FLSA for flat-sum bonuses, producing a higher premium.
- The workday and workweek are fixed by the employer in advance and cannot be manipulated to avoid overtime. Shifting them to dodge a premium is itself a violation.
- Exempt status uses a stricter salary threshold than federal law and a quantitative duties test, so an employee exempt federally may still be owed overtime in California.
Frequently asked questions
- How does California overtime differ from federal rules?
- California adds daily overtime that federal law does not have: 1.5x after 8 hours in a day and 2x after 12, plus special rules for the seventh consecutive day. Someone working four 10-hour days has no federal overtime but eight hours of California overtime.
- When does double time apply in California?
- After 12 hours in a single workday, and after 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek. Double time replaces the 1.5x rate for those hours rather than stacking on top of it.
- Can the same hour be paid both daily and weekly overtime?
- No. Hours already paid a daily premium are excluded when testing the 40-hour weekly threshold, so no hour receives a premium twice. This calculator applies the daily rules first and then tests only straight-time hours against the weekly limit.
- What is the seventh-day rule?
- If an employee works all seven days of a workweek, the first eight hours on that seventh day are paid at 1.5x and anything beyond eight at 2x — regardless of how many hours were worked earlier in the week.
- Does a 4/10 schedule avoid daily overtime?
- Only if it is a properly adopted alternative workweek schedule, which requires a written proposal, a secret-ballot election with two-thirds approval among affected employees, and filing with the state. An informal agreement to work four tens does not remove the daily overtime obligation.
- Are meal break premiums part of overtime?
- No, they are separate. A missed or late meal or rest break owes one extra hour at the regular rate as a premium. California courts have held that premium uses the regular rate — including bonuses and differentials — rather than the bare hourly wage.