California Overtime Rules: Daily OT, Double Time & the 7th Day
California's overtime rules go beyond the federal 40-hour week: 1.5× over 8 hours a day, 2× over 12, and special pay on the 7th consecutive workday.
California has the most generous overtime rules in the country. If you work in California, you can earn overtime even in a week under 40 hours, because California counts hours per day.
Daily overtime and double time
You earn 1.5× your regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday, and 2× (double time) for hours over 12 in a single day. You also earn 1.5× for hours over 40 in the week, whichever produces more pay, without double-counting the same hours.
The 7th consecutive day
If you work all seven days in a workweek, the 7th day is special: the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5×, and any hours beyond 8 that day are paid at 2×.
Calculate it
Pick California in the overtime calculator and switch on "hours per day" to apply the daily, double-time and 7th-day rules automatically. Alaska, Nevada and Colorado also have daily overtime, though only California has double time.