California Overtime Calculator 2026 – Daily and Weekly OT

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California overtime rules (Labor Code 510)

California has some of the strongest overtime rules in the country. Non-exempt employees aged 18 and over must be paid:

• 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday, hours over 40 in a workweek, and the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.
• 2 times the regular rate (double time) for hours over 12 in a workday and hours over 8 on the seventh consecutive day.

A workday is any 24-hour period starting at the same time each day, and a workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 7 days set by the employer. It doesn't have to start on Monday, so choose your employer's workweek start in the calculator.

Daily vs weekly overtime

Federal law pays overtime only after 40 hours a week. California adds daily overtime: any hours over 8 in one day are overtime, even if the week totals 40 hours or less.

The two rules don't double count. Hours already paid as daily overtime are not counted again toward the 40-hour weekly limit; only regular hours add up to 40.

Double time

Double time is twice the regular rate. In California it applies to:

• Hours over 12 in a single workday.
• Hours over 8 on the seventh consecutive day of work in the workweek.

At $25 an hour, a 13-hour day pays 8 hours at $25, 4 hours at $37.50 and 1 hour at $50: $200 + $150 + $50 = $400.

7th consecutive day of work

If you work all seven days of the same workweek, the seventh day has its own rule: the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5x and anything over 8 at 2x. This applies only when you work every day of one workweek, not seven days in a row that span two workweeks.

For example, working 8 hours Monday to Friday, 6 hours Saturday and 10 hours Sunday (with a Monday workweek) gives 40 regular hours, 14 overtime hours (6 on Saturday because the week passed 40, plus 8 on Sunday) and 2 double-time hours. At $25 an hour that is $1,625 for the week.

Alternative workweek schedules

Employers can adopt an alternative workweek schedule (AWS), such as four 10-hour days, only through a secret-ballot election in which at least two-thirds of the affected employees vote yes, with the results reported to the state. Under a valid AWS:

• Hours up to the scheduled day length (up to 10 hours, or 12 in some industries) are paid at the regular rate.
• Hours over the scheduled day, up to 12, and hours over 40 a week are paid at 1.5x.
• Hours over 12 in a day are paid at 2x.
• On days beyond the scheduled workdays, the first 8 hours are 1.5x and hours over 8 are 2x.

So yes, a 4/10 schedule can avoid daily overtime, but only if it was properly adopted. Without a valid vote, every hour over 8 a day is overtime. A four 10-hour week pays $1,000 under a valid AWS but $1,100 without one at $25 an hour. The calculator supports 4/10 and 3/12 schedules; 9/80 schedules need a split workweek and are not covered.

Regular rate of pay

Overtime is paid on the regular rate of pay, which includes non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, commissions and piece-rate earnings, not just the base hourly rate.

Regular rate = (hourly rate × all hours + bonus and shift pay) ÷ all hours worked

For example, $25 an hour for four 10-hour days plus an $80 shift premium gives a regular rate of ($1,000 + $80) ÷ 40 = $27 an hour. The 8 daily overtime hours then pay $25 + half of $27 = $38.50 each, for $1,188 in total. California figures the regular rate on a bonus differently in some cases (for example a flat-sum bonus divided by regular hours only); this calculator uses the federal method, which is the same for most hourly bonuses.

Exempt vs non-exempt

Exempt employees do not earn overtime. To be exempt in California as an executive, administrative or professional employee, you generally must:

• Earn a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work: $70,304 a year in 2026 ($16.90 × 2 × 2,080 hours).
• Spend more than half your working time on exempt duties and regularly use independent judgment.

A job title or a salary alone does not make you exempt. Salaried employees who don't meet both tests are non-exempt and must be paid overtime. Some groups, such as computer professionals, licensed physicians and certain agricultural and health care workers, have their own rules.

Taxes on California overtime

Overtime is taxed like regular wages: federal and California income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California SDI. For 2025 to 2028, the federal overtime deduction lets you deduct the half-time premium on overtime required by federal law, meaning hours over 40 a week. California's daily overtime and 7th-day premiums above that do not qualify, and California does not have its own overtime deduction. The take-home estimate applies the deduction only to the federal part.

Examples

All at $25 an hour, no bonus, single filer, 2026, every week of the year like this one:

The calculator applies the rules above to the hours you enter; special industry wage orders and collective bargaining agreements may differ. Results are estimates, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed: November 1, 2026.