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Overtime Laws by State: 2026 Guide for Hourly Workers

State and federal overtime rules for 2026, explained from the paycheck side. Daily OT, double time, salary exemptions, and how to know if you're paid right.

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Disclaimer: Informational only, not tax or legal advice. Overtime rules change. Verify current numbers with the U.S. Department of Labor or your state labor department for the year you’re reading this.

The One Rule That Matters Most

When state and federal overtime laws disagree, you get whichever rule pays you more. That’s the rule.

Almost every guide on this topic is written for employers worried about compliance. This one is written for the worker logging the hours. The question you actually care about: when does my overtime clock start, and how much should my next paycheck go up?

Federal law (the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA) sets a floor. States can stack stricter rules on top. Where they do, the stricter rule wins.

The Federal Baseline: FLSA’s 40-Hour Rule

The FLSA is the starting point for every hourly worker in the country. It requires non-exempt employees to earn at least 1.5x their regular rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek (DOL Fact Sheet #23).

A few details trip people up:

  • The workweek is any fixed 168-hour period. It doesn’t have to be Sunday to Saturday. Your employer picks it, but once picked, it stays consistent.
  • Overtime is calculated per workweek, never averaged. A week with 50 hours owes you 10 hours of OT, even if the next week is only 30.
  • Daily overtime is not federal. If you work a 14-hour shift Monday but stop at 38 hours for the week, FLSA owes you nothing extra. Some states change that (more on those below).

The 40-hour rule covers most non-exempt hourly workers in the United States. If your state isn’t on one of the special lists later in this article, this is your rule.

The “Most Favorable to the Employee” Rule, With Numbers

Every competitor article mentions this in passing. It’s the most important sentence on this page if you want to know what you’re owed.

Imagine you work in California at $25 an hour. In a single week you put in five 10-hour shifts, totaling 50 hours.

Under federal law only:

  • 40 hours regular: 40 x $25 = $1,000
  • 10 hours OT at 1.5x: 10 x $37.50 = $375
  • Gross: $1,375

Under California state law:

  • 8 hours regular per day, 5 days: 40 x $25 = $1,000
  • 2 hours OT per day at 1.5x, 5 days: 10 x $37.50 = $375
  • Gross: $1,375

In this case, both math paths land in the same place. Push the shift to 13 hours one day and the picture shifts:

Under federal law (53 weekly hours):

  • 40 x $25 + 13 x $37.50 = $1,000 + $487.50 = $1,487.50

Under California (8 + 4 + 1 of double time on the long day, plus regular OT structure on the other days):

  • The long day pays: 8 x $25 + 4 x $37.50 + 1 x $50 = $200 + $150 + $50 = $400
  • Four 10-hour days: each pays 8 x $25 + 2 x $37.50 = $275, times 4 = $1,100
  • Gross: $1,500

California’s stricter rule wins by $12.50. Different week, different rate, different state, and the math shifts again. The principle stays fixed: run both calculations, take the higher one.

States That Follow Only the FLSA 40-Hour Rule

Roughly 40 states leave overtime to the federal rule. If you work in any of these and your employer is covered by the FLSA (most are), your overtime starts after 40 hours per workweek at 1.5x your regular rate, full stop.

States in this group include:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida (with one exception, below), Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

One note worth flagging: state minimum wage often differs from federal even where the OT rule matches. The minimum wage sets your floor for the “regular rate” used in OT math, so a state minimum wage hike can quietly raise your overtime pay.

Daily Overtime States: When Shift Length Triggers OT

These are the states where a long shift on a single day can trigger overtime even if your weekly total stays under 40.

Alaska

Alaska requires 1.5x after 8 hours in a workday, or after 40 hours in a workweek, whichever comes first (Alaska DOL).

If you work four 10-hour shifts (40 hours), federal law owes you no OT. Alaska owes you 2 hours of OT per shift, 8 hours total. At $20/hr that’s an extra $80 in your pocket each week, or $4,160 a year.

California

California has the most worker-friendly OT rules in the country, and the most moving parts:

  • 1.5x after 8 hours in a workday
  • 2x (double time) after 12 hours in a workday
  • 1.5x for the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive workday in a workweek
  • 2x after 8 hours on that 7th consecutive day
  • 1.5x after 40 hours in a workweek (still applies as the weekly backstop)

You take the rule that pays the most for each hour worked (California DIR).

Colorado

Colorado triggers OT at 1.5x after any of three thresholds, whichever you hit first (Colorado CDLE):

  • 12 hours in a workday
  • 12 consecutive hours of work (even if they cross midnight)
  • 40 hours in a workweek

The 12-consecutive-hours rule catches overnight shifts that the daily clock might miss.

Nevada

Nevada is the conditional one. Daily OT (after 8 hours in any 24-hour period) only kicks in if your wage is less than 1.5x the state minimum wage. If you earn more than that, only the 40-hour weekly rule applies (Nevada Labor Commissioner).

This is a meaningful carve-out. Workers near the bottom of the wage scale get the daily protection; higher earners don’t.

Higher Weekly Thresholds and Special Industries

This section is where competitor articles get things wrong most often. The state statutes look generous on paper, then the FLSA preempts and the worker doesn’t actually see the higher threshold.

Kansas and Minnesota: Read the Fine Print

Kansas state law sets OT at 46 hours/week. Minnesota sets it at 48 hours/week.

Both apply only to employers NOT covered by the FLSA. If your employer is covered (the great majority are, including any business with $500,000+ in annual revenue or any worker engaged in interstate commerce), federal law preempts the state statute and the 40-hour rule applies (Kansas DOL; Minnesota DLI).

In practice, most workers in Kansas and Minnesota still get OT at 40 hours. If you work for a small intrastate business that doesn’t meet the FLSA threshold, then and only then does the 46 or 48-hour rule apply to you.

New York Farm Workers

Farm workers in New York are on a phase-in schedule. The OT threshold drops 4 hours every other year toward 40 hours, where it lands in 2032 (NY Farm Laborers Wage Board).

In 2026 the threshold is 52 hours per week. Anything over 52 pays 1.5x.

Florida Manual Laborers

Florida is otherwise an FLSA-only state, but a state statute requires premium pay for “manual laborers” paid by the day, week, or month after 10 hours of work in a day. It’s a niche rule that rarely comes up in modern hourly employment, but it exists.

California Double Time

California is the only state in the country that requires double time (2x the regular rate). It kicks in after 12 hours in a workday and after 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of work in the same workweek.

A 14-hour shift in California at $25/hr earns:

  • 8 hours regular: $200
  • 4 hours at 1.5x: $150
  • 2 hours at 2x: $100
  • Day total: $450 for 14 hours of work

That same 14-hour shift in Texas earns $350, and only if the worker is over 40 hours for the week (1.5x kicks in only after 40 weekly hours).

Exemptions: Who Doesn’t Get Overtime At All

Overtime laws cover non-exempt employees. Exempt employees, broadly, are salaried workers who pass both a salary-basis test and a duties test.

Federal Salary Basis Test (2026)

To be exempt from federal OT, a worker must (a) be paid on a salary basis, (b) earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year), and (c) perform exempt-level duties (DOL Salary Levels).

The $684 number surprises a lot of readers in 2026 because the Department of Labor’s 2024 rule that would have raised it to $844 (then $1,128) was vacated nationwide by a federal court. The pre-2024 number is what’s in effect.

Federal Duties Tests

The main exempt categories are:

  • Executive (supervises 2+ employees, manages a department, has hire/fire input)
  • Administrative (office or non-manual work directly related to management or general operations, exercising discretion on significant matters)
  • Professional (learned profession requiring advanced knowledge, or creative work)
  • Computer (specific software and systems work; an hourly equivalent of $27.63/hr also qualifies)
  • Outside sales (regularly works away from the employer’s place of business)
  • Highly compensated ($107,432/year total compensation, plus performs at least one exempt duty)

If you fail any prong of the test for your category, you’re non-exempt and entitled to OT regardless of your title or how you’re paid.

State Salary Thresholds

Several states set higher salary floors than federal:

  • California: $70,304/year in 2026 for most employers (twice the $16.90 state minimum wage at 40 hrs/week)
  • New York: $1,275/week downstate (NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester) and $1,199.10/week elsewhere in 2026
  • Washington: $1,541.70/week in 2026 (2.25x the state minimum wage)
  • Colorado: $1,111.23/week (about $57,784/year) in 2026 under the COMPS Order
  • Alaska: tied to state minimum wage at 2x (rises to $1,120/week on July 1, 2026)

If you’re salaried in one of these states and your pay is below the state floor, you’re entitled to OT under state law even if you’d be exempt federally.

How to Know If Your Overtime Is Calculated Correctly

The math itself is simple. The hard part is having a clean record of your hours and your regular rate.

The Regular Rate Is More Than Your Hourly Rate

Under FLSA, the “regular rate” for OT purposes includes your hourly wage plus non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and most tips. A worker earning $18/hr base plus a $50 weekly attendance bonus has a regular rate of $19.25 if they worked 40 hours ($720 + $50 = $770; $770 / 40 = $19.25). OT pays 1.5x of $19.25, not $18.

The Math

For each workweek:

  1. Add up all compensation that counts toward the regular rate (hourly, non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, commissions, most tips).
  2. Divide by total hours worked to get the regular rate.
  3. Multiply OT hours by 1.5 (or 2x in California double-time situations) times the regular rate.
  4. Add it to your base wages to get gross pay.

Cross-Check Your Paystub

Compare your paystub against your own time records every pay period. Things to look for:

  • Are all your hours on the stub, including the short shift you picked up on a day off?
  • Is OT broken out separately and at the right multiplier?
  • Did your employer use weekly OT when state law required daily OT?
  • Is the regular rate higher than your hourly rate in weeks where you got a bonus or tips?

Tracking shifts in an app like ClockWage44 is one way to keep an independent record. It logs hours per job, applies daily, weekly, or manual OT rules per job, and supports custom multipliers (handy if you’re in California and need to model double time on long shifts).

When to Escalate

If you find a discrepancy and your employer won’t fix it, you have two options:

Both options are free, and the DOL has investigators who can compel records from employers. Document everything: shifts, paystubs, schedules, communications.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the federal overtime laws under the FLSA?

FLSA requires non-exempt employees to be paid at least 1.5x their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Which states have daily overtime laws?

Alaska, California, Colorado, and Nevada (Nevada with a wage-floor condition). Puerto Rico also has daily OT.

Is California the only state with double-time pay?

Yes. California requires 2x the regular rate after 12 hours in a workday and after 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of work.

What happens when state and federal overtime laws conflict?

Whichever rule is more favorable to the employee applies. Workers always get the higher amount.

What is the salary threshold for overtime exemption in 2026?

$684/week ($35,568/year) at the federal level. Several states (CA, NY, WA, CO, AK) require higher thresholds.

Do Kansas and Minnesota really only require overtime after 46 or 48 hours?

Their state statutes say so, but FLSA covers most employers and preempts with the 40-hour rule. The higher-hour thresholds apply only to businesses not subject to the FLSA.

How do I calculate overtime pay if I have multiple pay rates or tips?

Calculate the regular rate by dividing total weekly pay (including non-discretionary bonuses and tips) by total hours worked, then multiply by 1.5 for hours over the OT threshold.

What should I do if my employer isn’t paying me overtime correctly?

File a wage complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or your state labor agency. You can also track your own hours independently to document discrepancies.

References

  1. DOL Fact Sheet #23, Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
  2. DOL Salary Levels for White-Collar Exemption
  3. California DIR, Overtime FAQ
  4. Alaska Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Act
  5. Colorado CDLE, Overtime
  6. Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner, Overtime
  7. Kansas DOL, Workplace Laws FAQs
  8. Minnesota DLI, Overtime Laws
  9. New York DOL, Farm Laborers Wage Board

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the federal overtime laws under the FLSA?

FLSA requires non-exempt employees to be paid at least 1.5x their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Which states have daily overtime laws?

Alaska, California, Colorado, and Nevada (Nevada with a wage-floor condition). Puerto Rico also has daily OT.

Is California the only state with double-time pay?

Yes. California requires 2x the regular rate after 12 hours in a workday and after 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of work.

What happens when state and federal overtime laws conflict?

Whichever rule is more favorable to the employee applies. Workers always get the higher amount.

What is the salary threshold for overtime exemption in 2026?

$684/week ($35,568/year) at the federal level. Several states (CA, NY, WA, CO, AK) require higher thresholds.

Do Kansas and Minnesota really only require overtime after 46 or 48 hours?

Their state statutes say so, but FLSA covers most employers and preempts with the 40-hour rule. The higher-hour thresholds apply only to businesses not subject to the FLSA.

How do I calculate overtime pay if I have multiple pay rates or tips?

Calculate the regular rate by dividing total weekly pay (including non-discretionary bonuses and tips) by total hours worked, then multiply by 1.5 for hours over the OT threshold.

What should I do if my employer isn't paying me overtime correctly?

File a wage complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division or your state labor agency. You can also track your own hours independently to document discrepancies.