Payroll & contractors
California Daily Overtime Calculator
California pays overtime by the day, not just the week. Four 10-hour days is 40 hours and zero federal overtime — but 8 hours of it here.
| Straight time32.00 hrs at 1x | $704.00 |
|---|---|
| Overtime8.00 hrs at 1.5x | $264.00 |
| Double time0.00 hrs at 2x | $0.00 |
| Gross pay | $968.00 |
Time-and-a-half past 8 hours in a day and past 40 in a week, double time past 12 in a day. On the seventh consecutive day of a workweek, the first 8 hours are time-and-a-half and anything beyond is double time.
Details people get wrong
- When does double time apply in California?
- Past 12 hours in a single workday, and past 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. California is the only state with a general double-time requirement — everywhere else, premium pay tops out at time-and-a-half unless a contract says otherwise.
- How does the seventh consecutive day rule work?
- Work all seven days of a workweek and the seventh is premium-paid regardless of how few hours the week totalled: the first 8 hours at time-and-a-half, anything beyond at double time. Someone working seven short days can trigger it without ever reaching 40 hours.
- Do the daily and weekly rules stack?
- No, and getting this wrong overpays or underpays. An hour already paid at a daily premium cannot be counted again toward the weekly 40. Weekly overtime applies only to straight-time hours beyond 40, which is how this calculator treats it.
- What about alternative workweek schedules?
- A properly adopted alternative workweek — commonly four 10-hour days — lets employees work up to 10 hours a day without daily overtime. It requires a secret-ballot election of the affected work unit and filing with the state. Without that formal adoption, the ordinary 8-hour rule applies and this calculator is correct as shown.