California Overtime Law: Rates, Rules and Examples

Check your hours before you check your overtime rate

Your paycheck can be short even when it shows overtime. California generally requires overtime based on your daily hours, weekly hours and work on the seventh consecutive day within your employer’s defined workweek. Your employer must also use the correct regular rate, which can include compensation beyond your hourly wage. These are separate questions under Labor Code sections 510 and 515 and the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission wage order.^{1, 2}

Start with the work you actually performed. Then identify the employer’s workday and workweek, determine whether an exemption or alternative schedule applies, and calculate the regular rate. A payroll entry labeled “OT” does not establish that the hours or rate were correct under Labor Code section 510.¹

The daily, weekly and seventh day rules

For employees covered by the general rule, Labor Code section 510 requires time and a half after eight hours in a workday, up to and including twelve hours. Work beyond twelve hours in that workday requires double time. Weekly overtime generally begins after forty hours worked in a workweek.^{1, 2}

Labor Code section 510 also requires time and a half for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work within a workweek. Work beyond eight hours on that seventh day requires double time. This rule depends on the employer’s defined workweek, not simply whether you have worked seven calendar days in a row across separate workweeks.^{1, 2}

You do not add daily and weekly premiums together for the same hour. Instead, identify which hours already qualify for daily or seventh day overtime, then determine whether additional hours qualify under the weekly rule. Labor Code section 510 does not require duplicate overtime premiums for the same hour.^{1, 2}

Paid vacation, holidays and sick leave generally do not count as hours worked for statutory overtime. A contract or employer policy can provide something more generous. The distinction matters when your pay statement shows paid hours above the weekly threshold but some of those hours were leave rather than work, under Labor Code section 510 and Wage Order 4, sections 2 and 3.^{1, 2}

Your workday can differ from your shift

A workday is a fixed, recurring period of twenty four consecutive hours. A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of seven consecutive days. Your shift can cross the boundary between workdays, so a shift’s total length does not always establish the daily overtime calculation. Check the employer’s actual definitions under Labor Code section 500 and the applicable wage order.²

Ask payroll to identify those boundaries in writing. Compare that answer with your time records and any earlier payroll instructions. If your employer appears to change boundaries only when a long shift would produce overtime, preserve the schedules and explanations. The analysis depends on the established workday and workweek, not a convenient label added after the work occurred.^{1, 2}

Keep separate records of unpaid work. Opening equipment, finishing required reports, responding to work messages and completing closing duties can be compensable when the employer controls the time or suffers or permits the work. Wage Order 4, section 2, supplies that hours worked standard for covered occupations.²

A salary or management title does not settle eligibility

The executive, administrative and professional exemptions generally require both qualifying duties and a sufficient salary. Meeting only the salary requirement is not enough. Labor Code section 515 and Wage Order 4, section 1(A), require an examination of the work you actually perform.^{2, 3}

For 2026, the general salary threshold is $70,304 annually, calculated from twice the statewide minimum wage of $16.90 per hour for full time employment. This is the general threshold under Labor Code section 515, not a universal threshold for every occupation or industry.³

The executive exemption examines management responsibilities, supervision, authority concerning personnel decisions, discretion and the proportion of time spent on exempt duties. A shift leader who mainly performs the same production or customer service work as the crew does not become exempt solely because the employer calls that person a manager. Wage Order 4, section 1(A)(1), controls the duties analysis.²

The administrative exemption concerns qualifying office or nonmanual work related to management policies or general business operations, together with the required discretion and other conditions. Routine clerical work is not automatically administrative work for exemption purposes. The relevant requirements appear in Wage Order 4, section 1(A)(2).²

The professional exemption has its own requirements involving qualifying licensed or learned professions or creative work. A college degree alone does not establish the exemption. For these exemptions, California generally examines whether more than half your work time involves qualifying duties, under Labor Code section 515 and Wage Order 4, sections 1 and 2.²

Computer software employees have a separate compensation test under Labor Code section 515.5. For 2026, DIR lists an hourly threshold of $58.85 or qualifying salary payments of at least $10,214.44 monthly and $122,573.13 annually. The statute also requires qualifying duties and expertise; using a computer throughout the day does not establish this exemption.⁴

Other rules can apply to outside sales, qualifying commissioned employees, particular union agreements and specific occupations. Covered health care employees also have a special salary floor under Labor Code section 1182.14. Identify the actual exemption claimed before comparing your salary with a general online threshold.^{2, 5}

When an alternative workweek changes daily overtime

A valid alternative workweek can allow a regularly scheduled workday longer than eight hours without ordinary daily overtime. Labor Code section 511 generally permits schedules of up to ten hours within a forty hour workweek when the statutory election and procedural requirements are satisfied. Certain health care schedules have different rules.^{2, 6}

An employer cannot establish a valid alternative workweek merely by obtaining your individual signature on a schedule. The general process involves a proposal to an affected work unit, required disclosures and a secret ballot election approved by the required proportion of affected employees. Labor Code section 511 and the applicable wage order govern those steps.^{2, 6}

Ask for the proposed schedule, election results, affected work unit definition and implementation date. Compare those documents with the hours you actually worked. A valid schedule does not erase overtime for work beyond its lawful limits, and working on an additional day can require a different calculation under Labor Code section 511 and the wage order.^{2, 6}

Do not assume an agreement to work long shifts means you agreed to give up overtime. The question is whether the employer satisfied the legal requirements for the particular schedule. Our examples below assume the ordinary Labor Code section 510 rules, with no alternative workweek or occupational exception.^{1, 2}

Your regular rate can exceed your hourly rate

The regular rate includes compensation that California law treats as pay for your work. Nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions and shift differentials can increase it. Expense reimbursements and genuinely discretionary gifts can receive different treatment. Labor Code section 510 requires overtime based on the regular rate, not automatically the base rate printed next to your job title.¹

Look at how a bonus is earned. A promised attendance, production or retention payment can be nondiscretionary even if the employer calls it a discretionary bonus. Preserve the written plan, announcement, performance conditions and payment date. Those records help determine what compensation belongs in the regular rate and the earning period to which it should be allocated.¹

California uses a particular calculation for a qualifying flat sum bonus. In Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California, the California Supreme Court held that the bonus’s hourly value must use the actual nonovertime hours worked during the relevant period. Dividing by all hours, including overtime, improperly dilutes that value. The decision interprets California overtime requirements, including Labor Code section 510.⁷

A production bonus can require a different calculation because it increases with production. Payroll should not apply the Alvarado flat sum formula to every bonus without examining the plan. DIR distinguishes flat sum and production bonuses in its guidance on Labor Code section 510.¹

If you work at different hourly rates for the same employer, the regular rate generally requires a weighted calculation. Collect all earnings and hours for the workweek. Looking only at the rate assigned to the last task can miss compensation that belongs in the overtime calculation.¹

Five worked overtime examples

These examples assume a nonexempt employee, a $24 hourly rate, the general Labor Code section 510 rules and no other compensation except where stated. They show gross wages before deductions, not take home pay.^{1, 2}

Example 1: A ten hour workday

You work ten hours in one workday. The first eight hours produce $192. The remaining two hours are paid at $36, producing $72. Total gross pay for that day is $264 under Labor Code section 510. Paying all ten hours at $24 would leave a $24 overtime shortfall.¹

Example 2: Weekly overtime without a long workday

You work eight hours on each of six days within the same workweek. Your forty eight hours include forty regular hours and eight overtime hours. The calculation is $960 plus $288, totaling $1,248 under Labor Code section 510. No individual day had to exceed eight hours for weekly overtime to apply.¹

Example 3: A thirteen hour workday

You work thirteen hours in one workday. Eight regular hours produce $192, four time and a half hours produce $144, and one double time hour produces $48. Total gross pay is $384 under Labor Code section 510. Applying time and a half to the final hour would underpay that hour.¹

Example 4: Work on every day of the workweek

You work eight hours on each of the first six days and ten hours on the seventh day. The total is forty regular hours, sixteen time and a half hours and two double time hours. Gross pay is $960 plus $576 plus $96, totaling $1,632 under Labor Code section 510. The weekly and seventh day rules apply without paying duplicate premiums for the same hour.^{1, 2}

Example 5: A flat attendance bonus

You work forty regular hours and ten time and a half hours, and earn a qualifying $200 flat attendance bonus for that period. Base wages and overtime total $1,320. The bonus’s hourly value is $200 divided by forty nonovertime hours, or $5. The additional bonus overtime is $5 multiplied by 1.5 and ten hours, or $75.^{1, 7}

Total gross compensation is therefore $1,320 plus the $200 bonus plus $75, or $1,595. This calculation applies Labor Code section 510 and Alvarado. Different bonus terms, double time or multiple earning periods can change the calculation.^{1, 7}

How to check your own payroll

Create a worksheet that separates each workday’s regular, time and a half and double time hours. Add a workweek total, then identify bonuses, commissions and differentials earned during that period. Keep the original time entries alongside your reconstruction so an unexplained edit remains visible.

Compare gross wages owed with gross wages paid. Bank deposits reflect deductions and therefore cannot, by themselves, establish the wage shortfall. Your wage statements should identify applicable hourly rates and corresponding hours as required by Labor Code section 226(a).⁸

If records are missing, write down your best reconstruction and identify its basis: schedules, dispatch records, messages, calendar entries or a repeated opening routine. Separate exact entries from estimates. Do not fill gaps by assuming every workday was identical.

Unpaid statutory overtime generally has a three year filing period under Code of Civil Procedure section 338(a). A court claim under the Unfair Competition Law can involve a different period and remedy. Do not wait for payroll discussions to finish before reviewing the applicable filing deadline.⁹

Use the California wage enforcement tracker to look for records associated with the employer’s legal name and location. Compare the underlying agency record with your own employment dates. For related pay, break and classification issues, see California wage and hour claims.

More wage and hour guides

• California Minimum Wage 2026 by City and Industry: every local 2026 rate with its effective date, the fast food and health care floors, hotel rates, shortfall math.
• California Meal and Rest Break Law: Pay and Rights: meal timing, what Brinker requires, rest break math, waivers, on duty meals, the premium after Ferra, worked examples.
• How to File a California Labor Commissioner Wage Claim: what the Labor Commissioner hears, the calculation and records, the conference, the Berman hearing, the appeal clock and bond.
• California Employee Misclassification and the ABC Test: the ABC test part by part, the exceptions and Borello, construction and gig work, what a misclassified worker recovers.
• California PAGA Guide: What the 2024 Reforms Changed: standing after June 19, 2024, the notice, the 65-day clock, penalty caps, cure, early evaluation, the 35 percent share.
• California Retaliation After Reporting Unpaid Wages: protected wage complaints, the 90-day presumption, the Lawson burden shift, immigration threats, the one-year deadline.
• California Unpaid Wage Deadlines and Tolling Rules: three years for wages, four under the UCL, one for wage statement penalties and PAGA, tolling, six worked date examples.
• Layoff guides: the California WARN Act, severance agreements, final paycheck after a layoff and furloughs.
• Wage theft tracker and layoff notice tracker: the employer’s own federal and state records.
• Wage and hour claims, workplace retaliation and wrongful termination: the practice pages for a claim.

Questions about California overtime

Sources

1. California Department of Industrial Relations, Overtime (accessed October 2026).
2. California Department of Industrial Relations, Wage Order 4, 8 CCR section 11040 (accessed October 2026).
3. California Department of Industrial Relations, California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 (2025 announcement for 2026).
4. California Department of Industrial Relations, Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees (2026 schedule).
5. California Department of Industrial Relations, Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions (accessed October 2026).
6. California Department of Industrial Relations, DLSE Enforcement Policies and Interpretations Manual, chapter 56 (accessed October 2026).
7. California Supreme Court, Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California (2018) 4 Cal.5th 542 (2018): Flat sum bonus overtime is calculated on nonovertime hours only.
8. California Department of Industrial Relations, Laws Relating to the Time, Manner and Payment of Wages (October 2013 compilation): Labor Code sections 226 and 1194.
9. California Department of Industrial Relations, How to File a Wage Claim (accessed October 2026).

Statutes are cited by section so you can read them on the Legislature’s site. Rates and worked examples were checked on October 31, 2026; worked examples use made-up numbers to show the method and are not case results.