California Overtime Rules: Daily Overtime and Double-Time

California has some of the strongest overtime protections in the country. Unlike federal law, it requires overtime based on hours worked in a single day — not just the week. Here is how it works.

California's daily and weekly overtime thresholds

For most non-exempt employees in California, overtime is owed under several rules that stack together. You are entitled to whichever result gives you the most pay.

• 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 8 (and up to 12) in a workday.
• 1.5× for the first 8 hours worked on the 7th consecutive day of a workweek.
• 2× (double-time) for hours over 12 in a workday.
• 2× for hours over 8 on the 7th consecutive workday.
• 1.5× for hours over 40 in a workweek (excluding daily overtime already counted).

Worked example: a 13-hour day

Say you earn $20.00/hour and work 13 hours in one day in California:

• First 8 hours at regular rate: 8 × $20.00 = $160.00
• Hours 8–12 at 1.5×: 4 × $30.00 = $120.00
• Hour 12–13 at 2×: 1 × $40.00 = $40.00
• Day total: $320.00 for 13 hours

How daily overtime differs from federal law

Under federal FLSA rules, a worker who puts in four 10-hour days (40 hours total) earns no overtime, because they did not exceed 40 hours for the week. In California, those same four days would each generate 2 hours of daily overtime — 8 overtime hours in total — even though the weekly total is only 40 hours.

Meal and rest breaks

California also requires meal and rest breaks for most non-exempt employees, and a missed break can trigger an additional hour of "premium" pay. Break rules are separate from overtime but often come up in the same paycheck disputes. Always check your employer's written policy and the California Labor Commissioner's guidance.

How meal and rest breaks actually work

The two break types follow different rules, and mixing them up is a common reason workers miss pay they are owed:

The premium is one hour per category per day — so a day with both a missed meal period and a missed rest break can generate two premium hours, not one. Importantly, if you are not fully relieved of duty during your meal period (you have to stay at your station, monitor a phone, or cover the counter), the time is generally treated as an on-duty meal period that must be paid.

The seventh consecutive day rule

California's seventh-day rule is often missed by payroll systems. If you work all seven days in a single workweek, the seventh day is paid at premium rates regardless of how many hours you worked on the earlier days: the first 8 hours of that seventh day are paid at 1.5×, and anything beyond 8 hours on that day is paid at 2×.

The rule is tied to your employer's defined workweek, not to a rolling seven-day stretch. Working seven days in a row that straddles two workweeks — say Thursday through Wednesday — usually does not trigger the seventh-day rule, because neither workweek contains all seven days of work.

Alternative workweek schedules (the 4/10 exception)

California allows a properly adopted alternative workweek schedule, most commonly four 10-hour days. Under a valid alternative schedule, the first 10 hours of a scheduled day are paid at straight time rather than triggering daily overtime after 8.

This is not something an employer can simply announce. An alternative workweek must be proposed to an identifiable work unit and adopted by a secret-ballot vote of at least two-thirds of the affected employees, with specific notice and reporting requirements. If your employer runs a 4/10 schedule without a valid election, the ordinary daily overtime rules generally still apply — which can mean two unpaid overtime hours on every scheduled day.

Two other California premiums worth knowing

• Reporting time pay: if you report to work as scheduled but are sent home early or given less than half of your scheduled shift, you are generally owed a partial day's pay — typically half the scheduled shift, with a minimum of two hours and a maximum of four.
• Split shift premium: if your workday is broken into segments by an unpaid, non-meal interval, you may be owed an extra hour of pay at the state minimum wage for that day.

Who is exempt in California?

California's exemption test is stricter than the federal one in two ways. First, the salary floor is set by formula: an exempt executive, administrative, or professional employee generally must earn a monthly salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment. Because California's minimum wage is adjusted periodically, that threshold moves — verify the current figure with the California Labor Commissioner rather than relying on a number you saw last year.

Second, California applies a quantitative duties test: an exempt employee must be primarily engaged in exempt work, generally meaning more than half of their work time. Under federal law the focus is on the employee's "primary duty," which is a more qualitative standard. A working supervisor who spends most of the shift doing the same tasks as the crew may therefore be non-exempt in California even if an employer treats the role as exempt.

This guide is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Labor laws vary by state and change over time. Confirm your specific situation with your employer, HR department, or the U.S. Department of Labor.