California Daily Overtime Rules: 8/12-Hour and 7th-Day Pay Guide
California daily overtime rules in plain English: when 1.5x starts, when double-time kicks in, the 7th-day rule, and worked dollar examples for 2026.
Disclaimer: Informational only, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Rules and rates can change; check the California DIR or consult an attorney for your specific situation.
Quick Answer: How California Overtime Works
California pays overtime three ways: after 8 hours in a day (1.5x), after 12 hours in a day (2x), and after 40 hours in a week (1.5x). A 7th consecutive day in the same workweek is fully overtime: 1.5x for the first 8 hours and 2x past 8.
Example: A 10-hour day at $25/hr = 8 × $25 + 2 × $37.50 = $275
California’s Three Overtime Triggers at a Glance
Most states only require overtime after 40 hours in a workweek. California is one of the few that also requires daily overtime and a seventh-day premium. The trigger that pays the most for a given hour is the one that applies.
| Trigger | Hours | Pay rate |
|---|---|---|
| Daily overtime | Over 8 in a workday | 1.5x |
| Daily double-time | Over 12 in a workday | 2.0x |
| Weekly overtime | Over 40 in a workweek | 1.5x |
| 7th consecutive day, first 8 | Hours 1 to 8 | 1.5x |
| 7th consecutive day, past 8 | Hours over 8 | 2.0x |
These rules come from Labor Code section 510 and are summarized in the DIR Overtime FAQ. The right to overtime cannot be waived by agreement under Labor Code section 1194.
The 8-Hour Daily Rule: When Time-and-a-Half Starts
Once a nonexempt employee passes 8 hours of work in a single workday, every additional hour up to 12 is paid at 1.5x the regular rate. The clock resets at the start of each workday.
What counts as a “workday”
A workday is a fixed, consecutive 24-hour period that the employer establishes. If the employer doesn’t designate one, the default is 12:01 a.m. to midnight. The employer can pick a different start time, but it has to be consistent for that employee or group, not changed shift-by-shift to dodge overtime.
This matters most for graveyard and split shifts. If your workday starts at midnight and you clock in at 10:00 p.m., the first two hours fall in one workday and the rest fall in the next. Each side of midnight has its own 8-hour daily threshold.
Worked example: 10 hours at $25/hr
An employee earns $25 per hour and works a 10-hour shift on Monday:
- Hours 1 to 8 at $25 = $200.00
- Hours 9 and 10 at $37.50 (1.5x) = $75.00
- Total daily pay: $275.00
Hours actually worked are what count. Paid time off, holiday pay, and sick leave don’t push you over the 8-hour daily threshold even if they show up on the same pay stub.
The 12-Hour Daily Rule: When Double-Time Kicks In
Any hour worked past 12 in a single workday is paid at 2x the regular rate. This is one of the most overlooked rules because long shifts are common in healthcare, manufacturing, film, and emergency response.
Worked example: 14 hours at $25/hr
A 14-hour Tuesday shift breaks down like this:
- Hours 1 to 8 at $25 = $200.00
- Hours 9 to 12 at $37.50 (1.5x) = $150.00
- Hours 13 and 14 at $50.00 (2x) = $100.00
- Total daily pay: $450.00
At the 2026 California minimum wage of $16.90 per hour, the same 14-hour shift earns $135.20 + $101.40 + $67.60 = $304.20. The math is mechanical: split the day at hour 8 and hour 12, then apply the right multiplier to each band.
The Seventh Consecutive Day Rule
Working seven days in a row inside the same workweek triggers an additional premium. On that 7th day, the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5x and any hours past 8 are paid at 2x, regardless of how many hours you worked the rest of the week.
The workweek boundary is everything
This is the single most missed point in California overtime. The “seven consecutive days” only count if they all fall inside the same workweek. A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 consecutive hours (7 days), and the employer chooses when it starts.
If your workweek runs Sunday to Saturday and you work Tuesday through the next Monday, that is seven days in a row on a calendar, but only Tuesday through Saturday sit inside the first workweek. The streak resets at the workweek boundary, so the 7th-day rule does not trigger.
To get 7th-day pay, all seven shifts have to land inside the same workweek window. Check your pay stub or ask payroll which day your workweek begins.
Worked example: 7th-day shift at $25/hr
An employee works all seven days of a Sunday-to-Saturday workweek and pulls a 9-hour shift on Saturday:
- Hours 1 to 8 at $37.50 (1.5x) = $300.00
- Hour 9 at $50.00 (2x) = $50.00
- Total Saturday pay: $350.00
That’s on top of whatever daily or weekly overtime stacks up on the other six days.
Weekly Overtime and How California Stacks the Higher Premium
California also requires 1.5x pay for hours over 40 in a workweek, matching the federal floor. The state does not, however, let you double-count hours. For any single hour, the employer pays the highest premium that applies, not both daily and weekly overtime on top of each other.
Worked example: a 5-day, 50-hour week at $25/hr
An employee works five 10-hour days, Monday through Friday:
| Day | Hours | Regular | 1.5x | 2x |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Tuesday | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Wednesday | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Thursday | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Friday | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 50 | 40 | 10 | 0 |
- 40 regular hours at $25 = $1,000.00
- 10 daily OT hours at $37.50 = $375.00
- Weekly gross: $1,375.00
Notice the math doesn’t add a second 1.5x premium for the weekly overtime trigger. The 10 daily OT hours are already the 10 hours over 40, so they are paid once at 1.5x, not twice.
Regular rate of pay is more than your base hourly
The “regular rate” used to calculate overtime is not always your posted hourly rate. It includes most nondiscretionary bonuses (production bonuses, attendance bonuses, shift differentials, commissions) earned during the week, divided across the hours worked. If you earned a $200 production bonus in a 50-hour week, that bonus has to be rolled into the regular rate before the 1.5x multiplier is applied to the overtime hours.
Exemptions and Special Cases
Daily and weekly overtime rules apply to nonexempt employees. A few categories sit outside them.
White-collar exemptions
Executive, administrative, and professional employees can be exempt if they meet both a duties test and a salary test. For 2026, the salary test is at least 2x California minimum wage for full-time work, which works out to $70,304 per year ($1,352 per week). The full criteria are in the DIR overtime exemptions FAQ. Outside sales employees are also typically exempt.
Alternative workweek schedules
A properly adopted alternative workweek schedule lets nonexempt employees work up to 10 hours per day, 40 hours per week, without triggering daily overtime. Adoption requires a secret-ballot vote of the affected employees and other procedural steps. Without that vote, the regular 8-hour rule applies.
Industry carve-outs
Agriculture, healthcare, and a handful of other industries have specific Wage Order rules. Agricultural workers are now fully phased into the standard 8-hour/40-hour thresholds. Healthcare workers covered under Wage Order 4 or 5 may work 12-hour shifts under a written alternative workweek agreement.
Multiple jobs are tracked separately
California overtime applies per employer. If you work 25 hours a week at one employer and 25 hours at another, neither owes you overtime even though your total is 50. Workers juggling two or three jobs are responsible for tracking each employer’s hours on their own. A daily log makes this simple, which is exactly why we built ClockWage44 to handle California’s daily-overtime rules across as many jobs as you want.
How California Compares to Federal Law
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act only requires weekly overtime: 1.5x for hours over 40 in a workweek. There is no federal daily overtime, no federal double-time, and no federal 7th-day rule.
When state law is more generous than federal law, the state rule wins. California’s daily overtime and 7th-day premium sit on top of the federal floor, so a California employer has to honor whichever rule produces the higher pay for any given hour. A worker putting in three 14-hour days in California, for example, gets daily OT and double-time even though they’re only at 42 weekly hours, which barely crosses the federal threshold.
Putting It All Together
The cleanest way to check a California paycheck is to walk through each day in order:
- Split the day at hour 8 and hour 12. Apply 1x, 1.5x, and 2x to each band.
- Check whether it’s the 7th consecutive day in the workweek. If so, override the day with 1.5x for hours 1 to 8 and 2x past 8.
- At the end of the workweek, confirm that any weekly overtime (hours over 40) has been paid at 1.5x at minimum. If daily overtime already covers those hours, don’t double-pay.
- If you earned a bonus or commission tied to production, recompute the regular rate before applying the multipliers.
For a fast sanity check on a single week, try the overtime calculator or browse the rest of the ClockWage44 tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does daily overtime start in California?
After 8 hours worked in a single workday (24-hour period), nonexempt employees earn 1.5x their regular rate.
When does double-time apply in California?
For hours worked over 12 in a single workday, and for hours over 8 on the 7th consecutive day of a workweek.
Do I get overtime for working 7 days in a row in California?
Yes, if all seven days fall inside the same workweek, the entire 7th day is overtime (1.5x for the first 8 hours, 2x after).
Does California pay both daily and weekly overtime for the same hours?
No. California pays the greater of the two, and hours don’t count twice. The rule that yields the highest premium for a given hour wins.
Can my employer require me to work overtime in California?
Generally yes, an employer can require overtime, but they must pay the legally required overtime rate. Unauthorized overtime still has to be paid.
Are salaried employees entitled to overtime in California?
Only if they are nonexempt. To be exempt in 2026, a salaried white-collar employee must earn at least $70,304 per year and meet the duties test for executive, administrative, or professional roles.
What is California’s workday definition for overtime?
A fixed, consecutive 24-hour period the employer establishes. If none is set, it defaults to 12:01 a.m. to midnight.
How is the 7th consecutive day determined if I work across two workweeks?
The streak only counts within a single workweek. If your seven shifts straddle the workweek boundary, the 7th-day rule does not trigger.
Related Reading
- Overtime Pay Calculator: Run California daily, weekly, and 7th-day math on your own shifts.
- All ClockWage44 Tools: Calculators for hours, overtime, and take-home pay.
- ClockWage44 Blog: Plain-English guides on hours, paychecks, and labor rules.
- Get the Hours Tracker app: Log shifts across multiple jobs and see California overtime resolve automatically.
References
- California DIR, Overtime FAQ: Daily, weekly, and 7th-day rules in plain language.
- California DIR, Exceptions to the General Overtime Law: Alternative workweek schedules and industry carve-outs.
- Labor Code Section 510: Statutory basis for daily overtime and double-time.
- Labor Code Section 1194: Non-waivable right to overtime and minimum wage.
- California DIR, Overtime Exemptions FAQ: Salary threshold and duties test for white-collar exemptions.
- U.S. Department of Labor, FLSA Overtime: Federal weekly-only overtime rule for comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does daily overtime start in California?
After 8 hours worked in a single workday (24-hour period), nonexempt employees earn 1.5x their regular rate.
When does double-time apply in California?
For hours worked over 12 in a single workday, and for hours over 8 on the 7th consecutive day of a workweek.
Do I get overtime for working 7 days in a row in California?
Yes, if all seven days fall inside the same workweek, the entire 7th day is overtime (1.5x for the first 8 hours, 2x after).
Does California pay both daily and weekly overtime for the same hours?
No. California pays the greater of the two, and hours don't count twice. The rule that yields the highest premium for a given hour wins.
Can my employer require me to work overtime in California?
Generally yes, an employer can require overtime, but they must pay the legally required overtime rate. Unauthorized overtime still has to be paid.
Are salaried employees entitled to overtime in California?
Only if they are nonexempt. To be exempt in 2026, a salaried white-collar employee must earn at least $70,304 per year and meet the duties test for executive, administrative, or professional roles.
What is California's workday definition for overtime?
A fixed, consecutive 24-hour period the employer establishes. If none is set, it defaults to 12:01 a.m. to midnight.
How is the 7th consecutive day determined if I work across two workweeks?
The streak only counts within a single workweek. If your seven shifts straddle the workweek boundary, the 7th-day rule does not trigger.