California overtime law requires most private-sector employees to be paid 1.5 times their regular rate after eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek, and double their regular rate after 12 hours in a single day. The seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek carries its own rules. These daily thresholds go beyond federal law, which only counts weekly hours, and they apply unless your job fits a specific exemption.
The Three Overtime Tiers
California tracks overtime by the day and by the week, and the daily count is what catches most employers off guard. Under Labor Code Section 510, non-exempt workers are entitled to:1California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 510
- 1.5x pay after 8 hours in a workday, after 40 hours in a workweek, and for the first 8 hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek.
- 2x pay after 12 hours in a workday, and for any hours beyond 8 on that seventh consecutive day.
The tiers do not stack. No single hour is ever paid at a combined multiplier. A 14-hour shift breaks down like this: the first eight hours at straight time, hours nine through twelve at 1.5x, and hours thirteen and fourteen at 2x. That daily math runs independently of your weekly total.
What Your “Regular Rate” Actually Is
Overtime multipliers apply to your regular rate of pay, and that figure is usually higher than your base hourly wage. California requires employers to fold non-discretionary bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, and piece-rate earnings into the regular rate before applying 1.5x or 2x. A surprise bonus your employer chooses to hand out stays outside the calculation. A promised production, attendance, or performance bonus does not.
If your base rate is $20 an hour and you earn a promised $200 weekly production bonus, your regular rate for overtime purposes is higher than $20. Employers who apply the multiplier only to the base hourly wage are underpaying, and it is one of the most common violations the Labor Commissioner sees.
Who Is Covered and Who Is Exempt
California starts from the presumption that every worker gets overtime. To classify you as exempt, an employer has to prove you satisfy both a salary test and a duties test under Labor Code Section 515. Failing either one keeps you non-exempt.2California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 515
The salary test requires a fixed monthly salary equal to at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work. With the state minimum wage at $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, that comes to $70,304 per year. Below that number, you get overtime no matter your job title.3California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
The duties test looks at what you actually do. To be exempt, you have to spend more than half your working time on executive, administrative, or professional tasks that require independent judgment. A manager on paper who spends most of the day doing the same hands-on work as the crew is usually non-exempt.
Other Common Exemptions
Computer software professionals can be exempt if they perform high-level systems analysis, programming, or software engineering and earn at least $58.85 per hour or $122,573.13 per year as of 2026. Entry-level programmers, trainees, and people who mainly operate or repair hardware do not qualify.4California Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees
Outside salespeople who spend more than half their time away from the employer’s place of business selling or taking orders are exempt, with no minimum salary requirement. If you’re mostly at a desk making calls, that exemption doesn’t apply.
Registered nurses cannot be classified as exempt under the professional exemption. They have to qualify individually under the executive or administrative test to be exempt.
What Counts as Hours Worked
Any time you are under your employer’s control counts. If your supervisor sees you answering email before your shift or staying late to finish a task and does nothing to stop it, those hours count as worked time. An employer can discipline you for working unauthorized overtime, but still has to pay for it. A “no unauthorized overtime” policy does not waive the wages.
Preparation and cleanup are compensable too. Putting on required safety gear, setting up equipment, or cleaning tools at the end of a shift are working time. If those tasks push you past eight hours a day or 40 a week, the overtime rates apply.
Your normal commute is not paid. Once your workday begins, though, travel between job sites is compensable. Travel for a special one-day assignment to another city is work time as well, though the employer can subtract the length of your normal commute.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 22 Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Alternative Workweek Schedules
Some workplaces use four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. Under Labor Code Section 511, this kind of compressed schedule can skip daily overtime for hours nine and ten, but only if the employer follows a strict approval process: a written proposal identifying the exact schedule, a secret-ballot election in which at least two-thirds of the affected work unit approves, and a report of the results to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within 30 days. Miss a step and every hour past eight triggers overtime as if the arrangement never existed.6California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 511
Even with an approved alternative schedule, overtime still kicks in for hours beyond what the schedule establishes, for hours beyond 40 in a week, and for hours beyond 12 in a day. The employer also cannot cut your hourly rate because you moved to the new schedule.
Filing an Overtime Claim
If your employer is not paying overtime correctly, you can file a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, also called the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. There is no fee. Claims can be submitted online, by email, by mail, or in person at a local office.7California Department of Industrial Relations. How to File a Wage Claim
You have three years from the date of the violation to file a claim for unpaid overtime. Miss that window and you lose the right to recover through the Labor Commissioner. If your claim rests on a written employment contract that promised specific overtime terms, the deadline may be four years.
You can also skip the administrative route and file a civil lawsuit. Under Labor Code Section 1194, any employee paid less than the legally required overtime can sue to recover the unpaid balance plus interest, reasonable attorney’s fees, and court costs. This right cannot be waived by any employment agreement.8California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 1194
Keep your own records. Save pay stubs, photograph time sheets, and note your actual start and end times. California courts have held that when an employer fails to keep accurate time records, an employee can rely on their own reasonable estimates and the employer has to disprove them.
What You Can Recover
The core recovery is the unpaid overtime itself, plus interest and attorney’s fees under Section 1194. On top of that, the Labor Commissioner can assess civil penalties under Labor Code Section 558: $50 per underpaid employee per pay period for a first violation, and $100 per underpaid employee per pay period for each subsequent violation.9California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 558
If you were fired and your employer willfully failed to pay all wages owed at termination, including any unpaid overtime, waiting-time penalties under Labor Code Section 203 apply. Your daily wages continue to accrue as a penalty for up to 30 days until the employer pays.10California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 203
One boundary worth knowing: liquidated damages (an automatic doubling of what you are owed) apply to minimum wage violations in California but not to unpaid overtime. Labor Code Section 1194.2 draws that line explicitly. For overtime claims, the recovery is the unpaid wages plus interest and fees, not an automatic penalty multiplier.11California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 1194.2
Protection Against Retaliation
Your employer cannot fire, demote, or punish you for filing an overtime complaint or asserting your wage rights. Labor Code Section 98.6 covers this broadly, including verbal complaints about unpaid wages and testimony in a wage proceeding.12California Legislative Information. California Code Labor 98.6
If adverse action lands within 90 days of your protected activity, the law presumes it was retaliatory. Your employer then has to prove a legitimate, unrelated reason. If retaliation is established, you are entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and benefits.