California Overtime Pay Laws & Calculator

How overtime works for hourly employees in California, plus a free calculator to estimate your own pay.

The rules

Source: Cal. Labor Code § 510

Overtime applies after 40 hours in a single workweek, paid at 1.5x your regular hourly rate.
Daily overtime also applies: 1.5x pay for hours worked beyond 8 in a single workday.
Double time applies for hours beyond 12 in a single workday, paid at 2x.
Working all 7 days of one workweek triggers an extra premium on the 7th day.

Worked example

Take a non-exempt hourly employee in California earning $20.00/hour who works 45 hours in one workweek (nine hours a day, Monday through Friday). Applying California's rules above:

Regular pay (40 hrs)$800.00Overtime pay (5 hrs @ 1.5x)$150.00Total pay$950.00

Use the full calculator to plug in your own rate, hours, and pay period — including estimated federal and California tax withholding.

California minimum wage and exempt-salary rules

Minimum wage: $16.90/hour statewide, effective January 1, 2026 -- but dozens of California cities and counties set higher local minimums (Emeryville is highest, at $20.34/hour as of mid-2026), and fast food and many healthcare workers have their own separate, higher state minimums. (CA Department of Industrial Relations)
Tipped employees: California does not allow a tip credit at all -- tipped employees must receive the full applicable minimum wage (state or local, whichever is higher) before tips, with no reduced cash wage. (CA Department of Industrial Relations)
Exempt (salaried) employee salary threshold: $1,352/week ($70,304/year) for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions, effective January 1, 2026 -- California's formula is exactly twice the state minimum wage for a 40-hour week. Computer software professionals ($58.85/hour or $10,214.44/month) and licensed physicians/surgeons ($107.17/hour) have their own separate, higher thresholds. (CA Department of Industrial Relations)

Common mistake: The most common California mistake is tracking only weekly hours and missing the state's daily-overtime rule (over 8 hours/day) and 7th-consecutive-day premium -- both apply on top of, not instead of, the 40-hour weekly rule. See The rules above for exactly how the three triggers interact.

Example: biweekly confusion in California

Same hourly rate ($20.00/hour), 35 hours in week 1 and 45 hours in week 2 — 80 hours total either way:

WeekRegularOvertimeWeek 1 (35 hrs)35 hrs0 hrsWeek 2 (45 hrs)40 hrs5 hrsBiweekly total$1,650.00

Week 2 still owes 5 overtime hours even though the two-week total is a plain 80 hours — overtime in California is calculated per workweek, not by averaging the pay period. See the biweekly overtime calculator for more examples.

Example: 3x12 vs. 4x12 schedules in California

Two common 12-hour-shift schedules, same $20.00/hour rate:

ScheduleOT hoursTotal pay3 days × 12 hrs (36 hrs/week)12 hrs$840.004 days × 12 hrs (48 hrs/week)16 hrs$1,120.00

Want to compare your own rate, days, and shift differential? Use the schedule comparison tool.

California-specific FAQ

Do I get both daily and weekly overtime in the same week?

You get whichever is greater for each hour, never both stacked on the same hour. California applies three triggers (over 8/day, over 40/week, the 7th-consecutive-day premium) and pays each hour once, at its highest applicable rate.

What's California's 7th-consecutive-day rule?

If you work all 7 days of one workweek, the entire 7th day is paid at 1.5x minimum, with double time (2x) for any hours past 8 that day -- even if your weekly total wouldn't otherwise trigger overtime.

Does my city's higher minimum wage change my overtime rate?

Yes -- your overtime multiplier applies to your actual regular rate, so if your city's minimum wage is higher than the $16.90/hour state rate, your overtime pay is 1.5x (or 2x) that higher local rate, not the state minimum.

Is overtime taxed differently in California?

No -- overtime pay isn't taxed at a different rate than your regular wages. It's simply added to your gross pay for that period and withheld the same way as any other pay. California taxes wage income on a bracketed schedule topping out at 13.3% (Tax Foundation, 2026 State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets); overtime pay is withheld the same as any other wages, based on your total taxable pay for the period.

Who this applies to

Three separate triggers apply, whichever is greater for a given hour (no double-counting): over 40 hrs/week, over 8 hrs/day, and the 7th consecutive day worked in a workweek.
On the 7th consecutive day worked in one workweek, the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5x (not straight time), and anything beyond 8 hours that day is 2x.
This estimate assumes a non-exempt hourly employee. Executive, administrative, professional, and certain other roles may be exempt from overtime entirely under state and federal law.

This is an estimate for general informational purposes only, not legal, tax, or payroll advice. For your specific situation, consult your employer's payroll department, a licensed tax professional, or California's labor department.

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