What Is Considered Overtime in California: Thresholds and Exemptions

In California, overtime is any time a non-exempt employee works beyond 8 hours in a workday or beyond 40 hours in a workweek, and it must be paid at one and one-half times the regular rate. Double time kicks in after 12 hours in a day, and the seventh consecutive day worked in a week has its own premium rules. So what is considered overtime in California depends on both the day and the week, not just the week alone.

The Daily and Weekly Thresholds

Labor Code Section 510 sets eight hours as a standard workday. Any hours past eight in a single workday are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate, and any hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at the same rate.¹ Work 10 hours on a Tuesday and those last two hours are overtime, even if your total for the week comes in under 40.

The two triggers run independently. You could work exactly eight hours a day for six days and still earn eight hours of weekly overtime, because the sixth day pushes your total past 40.

When Double Time Applies

California is one of the few states that requires double-time pay in regular workweek situations. Any hours past 12 in a single workday must be paid at twice your regular rate. On a 14-hour shift, the first eight hours are straight time, hours nine through twelve are time-and-a-half, and hours thirteen and fourteen are double time.¹

The seventh consecutive day worked in a workweek has its own structure. The first eight hours that day are paid at time-and-a-half, and anything beyond eight is paid at double time.¹ An employer who schedules you seven days straight owes the premium on that last day regardless of how the hours fell earlier in the week.

How Your Regular Rate Is Calculated

The multipliers above sit on top of your “regular rate of pay,” which is not always the same as your hourly wage. The regular rate includes shift differentials, nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, and piece-rate earnings. A truly discretionary bonus (such as a surprise holiday gift) is excluded, but any bonus tied to hours, productivity, or staying on the job gets folded in.²

For a salaried non-exempt employee, the formula is: multiply monthly salary by 12, divide by 52 weeks, then divide by 40.²

A quick example. If you earn $800 in base pay for a 40-hour week plus a $100 nondiscretionary production bonus, your total is $900, and your regular rate is $22.50 per hour. Your overtime rate works out to $33.75, and double time to $45.00. The regular rate can never fall below the applicable minimum wage, which is $16.90 per hour statewide as of January 1, 2026.³

Overtime Counts Even If You Weren’t Authorized to Work It

One of the most misunderstood rules in California wage law: your employer must pay overtime for hours you worked without permission. The law covers any time an employee is “suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.” If the employer knew or should have known you were working, the overtime is owed.²

Your employer can discipline you, up to and including firing you, for working unauthorized hours. What they cannot do is refuse to pay for the time. A policy that says “no overtime without approval” is enforceable as a disciplinary rule, not as a reason to withhold wages.

Alternative Workweek Schedules Change the Daily Trigger

Some workplaces run on alternative schedules. California allows an employer to propose a schedule where employees work up to 10 hours per day within a 40-hour week without triggering daily overtime. At least two-thirds of the affected employees have to approve the arrangement in a secret ballot election.⁴

Under an approved alternative schedule, overtime still applies to any hours past your regularly scheduled shift (even if the shift was less than 10) and to any hours past 40 in the week. Double time applies after 12 hours in a day, and after eight hours on any day worked outside the regular alternative schedule. On a four-day, ten-hour schedule, an eleven-hour day produces one overtime hour. If the required election never happened, the standard eight-hour daily rule applies to everyone, no matter what the schedule looks like on paper. Your hourly rate also cannot be cut because the workplace adopted or ended an alternative schedule.⁴

Who Doesn’t Get Overtime

Some employees are classified as “exempt” and receive no overtime pay. California’s exemption rules are stricter than the federal ones, so an employee who would be exempt under federal law may still qualify for overtime here.

Executive, Administrative, and Professional Employees

The familiar white-collar exemptions require all three of the following:

Spending more than half of work time on duties that meet the exemption test, and regularly exercising discretion and independent judgment.
Being paid a fixed monthly salary that doesn’t fluctuate with hours or output.
Earning a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time (40 hours per week) employment.

With the state minimum wage at $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, that puts the exempt salary floor at $70,304 per year ($16.90 × 2 × 40 × 52). Anyone earning less cannot be classified as exempt under these categories, no matter what their title says.⁵⁶

Computer Professionals

Software engineers, programmers, and similar roles can be exempt if paid at least $58.85 per hour in 2026 (or the equivalent salary) and if their primary duties involve systems analysis, software design or development, or similarly specialized work.⁷

Outside Sales Employees

Employees whose primary duty is making sales and who regularly work away from the employer’s place of business are exempt, with no minimum salary requirement. The selling has to happen in person at customer locations, not over the phone or online from an office.⁸

If You’re Owed Overtime and Haven’t Been Paid

You can recover unpaid overtime plus interest and reasonable attorney’s fees through a civil lawsuit.⁹ That right applies even if you signed an agreement to work for less; no contract or company policy can waive your entitlement to overtime.

You can also file a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (the DLSE), which can be done online, by email, by mail, or in person. The office investigates, schedules a settlement conference, and holds a hearing if the dispute isn’t resolved.¹⁰

The statute of limitations is three years from the date the wages were due. If you had a written contract specifying a higher wage or specific overtime terms, the deadline extends to four years.¹⁰ Filing sooner means more back pay is recoverable. Keep your own records of hours, pay stubs, and scheduling communications, because the employer’s records may not reflect what you actually worked.

If an employer willfully fails to pay wages owed when you leave the job, waiting time penalties can add up to 30 days of your daily wages on top of what’s already owed.¹¹

1
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 510
2
California Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime FAQ
3
California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
4
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 511
5
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 515
6
California Department of Industrial Relations. California Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 per Hour
7
California Department of Industrial Relations. Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17F – Exemption for Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
9
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1194
10
California Department of Industrial Relations. How to File a Wage Claim
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code LAB 203