California overtime rules give non-exempt workers 1.5 times their regular rate after eight hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek, and double time after 12 hours in a day. That’s stronger than federal law, which has no daily trigger at all. With the state minimum wage at $16.90 per hour in 2026 and the exempt salary floor at $70,304, these rules reach most of California’s hourly workforce and a good share of its salaried employees too.
When Overtime Kicks In
California calculates overtime on both a daily and weekly basis, and you’re entitled to whichever method pays you more. Labor Code Section 510 sets three triggers for time-and-a-half pay:1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 510 – Compensation for Overtime
- More than 8 hours in a workday, paid at 1.5x the regular rate for every hour past eight.
- More than 40 hours in a workweek, paid at 1.5x for every hour past forty, even if you never crossed eight in a single day.
- The seventh consecutive day of work in a single workweek, with the first eight hours paid at 1.5x regardless of your weekly total.
This is where California diverges sharply from federal law. The FLSA only requires overtime after 40 hours in a week and has no daily trigger.2U.S. Department of Labor. Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act A California worker who puts in three 12-hour days and then stops has earned 12 hours of overtime; the same schedule under federal law would generate zero. When both laws apply, the more protective standard controls.
A “workday” is any consecutive 24-hour period that starts at the same time each calendar day, as designated by the employer. If your employer never picked one, it defaults to midnight. A “workweek” is any fixed seven consecutive days, starting on whatever day the employer chose. Employers cannot shift these designations week to week to avoid overtime.
When Double Time Applies
The rate escalates again on long days. Employers owe double the regular rate in two situations:1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 510 – Compensation for Overtime
- Any hour past 12 in a workday. Hours one through eight are straight time, nine through twelve are time-and-a-half, and everything past twelve is double.
- Any hour past 8 on the seventh consecutive workday. The first eight hours pay at 1.5x, and everything beyond eight pays double.
A worker earning $20 per hour who clocks a 14-hour shift takes home $360 that day, not $280. The first eight hours pay $20 each ($160), hours nine through twelve pay $30 each ($120), and hours thirteen and fourteen pay $40 each ($80).3Department of Industrial Relations. Division of Labor Standards Enforcement – Overtime
How the Regular Rate Is Calculated
The multiplier is applied to your “regular rate of pay,” which is often higher than your base hourly wage. The regular rate includes hourly earnings, salary, piecework earnings, commissions, and nondiscretionary bonuses tied to hours worked, productivity, or staying on the job. Flat-sum bonuses count.3Department of Industrial Relations. Division of Labor Standards Enforcement – Overtime
Some payments are excluded: gifts for special occasions, expense reimbursements, vacation and holiday pay, and truly discretionary bonuses that aren’t tied to performance or hours. A holiday gift card from your manager doesn’t affect your overtime rate; a quarterly production bonus does. The regular rate can never fall below the applicable minimum wage, which is $16.90 statewide as of January 1, 2026.4Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
If you work at two different pay rates for the same employer in one workweek, your regular rate is a weighted average: total compensation earned at all rates divided by total hours worked. The overtime premium is then calculated on that blended rate.
Who Is Exempt
Not every worker qualifies. Labor Code Section 515 allows exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional roles, but both a duties test and a salary test must be satisfied.5California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 515 – Exemption from Overtime Compensation
The Duties Test
The employee must spend more than half of their actual working time on exempt duties involving independent judgment and discretion. California defines “primarily” as more than 50 percent of work time, which is stricter than the federal “primary duty” standard that doesn’t require counting hours.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17A – Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act Job titles don’t determine status. An “assistant manager” who mostly stocks shelves and runs a register isn’t exempt just because the title sounds managerial.
The Salary Test
The employee must earn a fixed monthly salary equal to at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time (40 hours per week) employment. With the 2026 minimum wage at $16.90 per hour, that means an annual salary of at least $70,304.7Department of Industrial Relations. California Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 Per Hour Fail either test, and the worker is non-exempt.
Special Categories
Computer software professionals have their own threshold. To qualify as exempt in 2026, a computer professional must earn at least $58.85 per hour or an annual salary of at least $122,573.13, and the work must involve systems analysis, software design, or similar technical duties rather than routine IT support or data entry.8Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees Outside salespersons are exempt if they spend more than half their work time away from the employer’s premises selling goods or obtaining orders. Licensed physicians, surgeons, and certain unionized employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement with its own overtime provisions follow separate rules.9Department of Industrial Relations. Exceptions to the General Overtime Law
Alternative Workweek Schedules
An alternative workweek schedule lets employers offer longer daily shifts without triggering daily overtime. The most common version is a 4/10 (four ten-hour days), though other configurations up to ten hours per day are allowed. Adopting one has strict requirements under Labor Code Section 511.10California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 511 – Alternative Workweek Schedules
The employer must propose the schedule to a clearly defined work unit such as a department, shift, job classification, or location. Employees in that unit vote by secret ballot, and at least two-thirds must approve. The employer reports the results to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within 30 days. Once adopted, the daily overtime trigger shifts from eight hours to the scheduled hours (up to ten), but the 40-hour weekly limit still applies.
Work beyond the scheduled hours but under twelve in a day pays at 1.5x. Anything over twelve in a day still pays double time. The employer can’t cut hourly pay rates as a result of adopting the schedule and must make a reasonable effort to accommodate employees who can’t work the new hours.
Healthcare workers have an additional path. Hospitals and residential care facilities can adopt schedules allowing shifts up to twelve hours within a 40-hour week, with double time kicking in past twelve. Certain residential care employers may also use a 14-consecutive-day work period instead of a standard workweek, paying overtime after eight hours in a day and 80 hours in the 14-day stretch.9Department of Industrial Relations. Exceptions to the General Overtime Law
Off-the-Clock and Unauthorized Overtime
California requires employers to pay for all hours worked, period. If a supervisor knew or reasonably should have known that you were working past your shift, the overtime obligation stands. Answering work emails from home, staying late to finish a project, or working through a lunch break all count. An employer can discipline you for breaking a policy against unauthorized overtime, but withholding the pay itself is never legal.
The same principle covers pre-shift and post-shift activities. If your employer requires you to put on safety gear, boot up a computer system, or go through a security screening on-site, that time may be compensable depending on whether the activity is essential to your main job duties. Ordinary commuting doesn’t count, but travel between work sites during the day does.
What You Can Recover and How to File
Employers who shortchange overtime face real financial consequences. Under Labor Code Section 1194, any employee paid less than the legal overtime rate can file a civil lawsuit for the full unpaid amount plus interest, reasonable attorney’s fees, and court costs.11California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1194 – Recovery of Minimum Wage or Overtime Compensation Recoverable attorney’s fees matter in practice because they let lawyers take smaller wage cases on contingency; the employer pays those fees if the worker wins.
Waiting time penalties apply separately when wages aren’t paid promptly after termination. Under Labor Code Section 203, if an employer willfully fails to pay a discharged or quitting employee’s wages on time, the worker’s daily wages continue accruing as a penalty for up to 30 days.12California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 203 – Waiting Time Penalties For a worker earning $200 a day, that’s up to $6,000 on top of the actual wages owed. Federal penalties can stack on top of state remedies. Under the FLSA, employees who prove unpaid overtime can also receive liquidated damages equal to the back pay, effectively doubling the award.13U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
To pursue a claim, file with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (also called the DLSE) online, by email, by mail, or in person at a local district office.14Department of Industrial Relations. How to File a Wage Claim After you file, the office investigates and schedules a settlement conference. If that fails, a hearing officer reviews the evidence and issues a decision. You can also skip the administrative process and file a civil lawsuit under Section 1194.
The deadline for overtime claims is three years from the date the wages should have been paid. Claims based on a written employment contract get four years. Miss those, and the right to recover is gone. Keep your own log of hours worked, including start and end times, breaks, and any off-the-clock work. Your personal records can carry a case if your employer’s are incomplete or wrong.