Overtime Rules by State: 2026 Reference Guide
Most states follow the federal 40-hour rule, but California, Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado add daily overtime, and several states set much higher exempt salary thresholds. Know your state, or you undercount your pay.
Federal law sets the baseline for overtime: 1.5x pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. But states can and do go further. Four states require overtime based on daily hours, not just weekly hours, and several have set higher salary thresholds for exempt employees.
Knowing your state's rules is not a technicality. It can be the difference between a small claim and a large one, because applying only the federal rule in a daily-overtime state quietly erases hours you are legally owed.
States with daily overtime
California is the strictest: 1.5x for hours over 8 in a workday, 2x (double time) for hours over 12 in a day, 1.5x for the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive workday, and 2x beyond that. It is the only state requiring double time. Alaska requires 1.5x for hours over 8 in a day or over 40 in a week, whichever pays more.
Nevada requires 1.5x for hours over 8 in a day for employees earning less than 1.5x the state minimum wage. Colorado requires 1.5x for hours over 12 in a day, on top of the weekly 40-hour rule. If you work in any of these, switch your state in the overtime calculator so the daily rule applies.
Why daily overtime matters so much
In a daily-overtime state, you can earn overtime in a week under 40 hours. An employee who works four 10-hour days, just 40 hours total, earns 8 hours of daily overtime in California because each day crossed the 8-hour line, even though the weekly total never did.
That is income most workers and even many payroll departments miss. If you regularly work long days, the double time calculator is worth running to capture the hours over 12 that California pays at 2x.
States with higher exempt salary thresholds
Several states require a higher salary than the federal $684 a week before an employee can be treated as exempt. California sets it at roughly $1,378 a week in 2026, tied to twice the state minimum wage. New York runs about $1,237.50 a week in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, and somewhat less upstate.
Washington is near $1,500 a week, and Colorado around $1,128 a week. The practical effect: a worker earning $55,000 in California is non-exempt and owed overtime regardless of job title, because the salary falls below the state floor. The exempt salary calculator checks where you land.
States without their own overtime law
Some states rely entirely on the FLSA and have no separate state overtime statute, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Workers there are still fully protected by the federal 40-hour rule.
They simply have no extra state layer if the federal rule is satisfied. That makes the federal regular-rate and off-the-clock rules especially important in those states, since they are the whole of your protection.
Public-sector workers: comp time instead of cash
State and local government employers play by different rules. The FLSA lets public agencies offer compensatory time off at 1.5 hours per overtime hour, up to 240 accrued hours, or 480 for public-safety, emergency, and seasonal workers.
Private employers have no equivalent right; they must pay overtime in cash. If a private employer offers you time off in lieu of overtime, that is a violation, explained in comp time vs overtime.
How to check your state
For the exact daily rules, salary thresholds, and sector-specific exceptions, use the wage-claim pages for California, New York, Washington, and Colorado. Each lists the current minimum wage, overtime rule, and exempt threshold in one place.
If you split time across state lines, your overtime is generally governed by where the work is performed, which can mean different rules for different weeks. When in doubt, apply the rule of the state where you physically worked the hours.
Frequently asked questions
Which state pays the most overtime protection? California, by a wide margin. Daily overtime after 8 hours, double time after 12, seventh-day rules, and a high exempt threshold combine to make it the strongest in the country.
If my state has no overtime law, am I unprotected? No. The FLSA still covers you fully. You just do not get an extra state layer on top of the federal 40-hour rule.
Which state's rules apply if I work remotely across state lines? Generally the rules of the state where you physically perform the work, not where the company is headquartered. If you regularly work in more than one state, each state's law may apply to the hours worked there.
Apply your state's rule to your hours
The federal rule is the floor, and in a daily-overtime state, treating it as the ceiling can cost you real money every single week. The only way to know is to run your actual schedule through the correct state setting.
Select your state in the overtime calculator, and if you log long days, check the over-12 hours with the double time calculator. This is general information, not legal advice, but it is how you make sure no state-law hours go uncounted.