California overtime (OT) laws require non-exempt employees to earn one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay when they work extra hours. In some cases, employees receive double-time pay for working overtime.
This chart illustrates when you are entitled to overtime and double-time pay:
OT pay | Work that triggers OT pay for non-exempt employees in California |
Time-and-a-half pay (1.5 times the regular rate of pay) |
|
Double-time pay (2 times the regular rate of pay) |
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Workers denied mandatory overtime pay may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner. Alternatively, workers may file a wage and hour lawsuit against their employer for unpaid wages and attorney’s fees.
In this article, our California labor and employment law attorneys discuss:
- 1. Can everyone get higher wages for working extra hours?
- 2. When do California mandatory overtime rules apply?
- 3. How much is overtime pay in California?
- 4. How soon do I receive overtime pay?
- 5. What if my employer refuses to pay me overtime?
- 6. Can I get overtime if my employer did not authorize it first?
- 7. Can my employer require me to work extra hours?
- 8. Can my employer require me to take comp time pay instead of overtime?
- 9. What is my regular rate of pay?
- 10. Examples for calculating overtime pay
- Additional resources
1. Can everyone get higher wages for working extra hours?
The only people in California entitled to receive higher wages for working extra hours are non-exempt employees who are :
- 18 years old or
- 16 or 17 years old and are legally allowed to work instead of going to school.1
The following types of workers either get no overtime or have special overtime pay rules:
- Exempt employees
- Outside salespersons
- Unionized employees under a collective bargaining agreement
- Independent contractors
- Employees with an alternative workweek schedule
- Certain healthcare industry workers
- 24-hour childcare employees
- Live-in household employees
- Non-live-in household employees
- Ambulance teams working for 24-hour shifts
- Certain resident managers
- Personal attendants at nonprofits
- Camp counselors
- Ski industry employees
- Minors
- “Extra players”
- Agricultural workers
Each of these professional exemptions is discussed below.
Exempt employees
California overtime laws – as well as other wage and hour laws requiring meal and rest breaks – do not apply to exempt employees.
In order to be considered an exempt employee, workers typically must both:
- have a “white collar” job, which consists of administrative, professional, or executive duties that require the worker to exercise independent judgment and discretion; and
- receive a fixed salary instead of an hourly wage, and this salary must be no less than twice California’s minimum wage for a full-time job (40 hours/week). For 2024, the minimum exempt salary for businesses is $66,560 per year (or $1,280 per week). 2
Example: A professional employee, Maria is the manager of a small bookstore. She has the authority to hire and fire employees and to make purchasing decisions, and she spends all of her time on management and administration.
Maria is paid an annual salary of $39,000. Because this amount falls below the $66,560 minimum threshold for the white-collar overtime exemption, the bookstore’s owners owe her overtime pay every time she works extra hours.
Note that exempt employers who work on an hourly basis must still get paid for every extra hour they work. But unless their employment agreement says otherwise, their overtime pay is no higher than their regular pay.
Outside salespersons
Outside salespeople are not entitled to overtime pay in California if they meet the following three conditions:
- They are at least 18 years old;
- At least half of their work time is spent away from their employer’s place of business; and
- They sell contracts, services, items, or facility usage 3
Unionized employees under a collective bargaining agreement
Unionized employees are not entitled to overtime pay in California if their collective bargaining agreement provides for:
- work hours, work conditions, and wages; and
- a regular hourly wage that is 30% or more than California’s minimum wage; and
- wage rates for overtime hours
Suppose the collective bargaining agreement does not meet these three conditions. In that case, unionized employees are considered “non-exempt” and may receive overtime pay in accordance with California wage and hour laws. 4
Independent contractors
Independent contractors are not entitled to overtime pay in California. The legal definition of an independent contractor is someone who:
- performs a service under an employment contract that says they will produce a specified result for specified pay, and
- maintains control over the means by which the result is accomplished.5
Independent contractors are more common than ever in the gig economy. See our related article on independent contractor misclassification.
Employees with an “alternative workweek schedule”
Finally, the normal California laws for overtime do not apply to workers whose employer has instituted an “alternative workweek schedule.” An alternative workweek schedule is a written agreement between
- a group of employees and
- their employer
that the employees may work up to ten hours a day without overtime pay.
In order to be a valid exception to California overtime rules, an alternative workweek schedule must be approved by at least two-thirds of affected employees in a work unit by secret ballot. (The employer must report the alternative workweek schedule to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within 30 days.)
When overtime kicks in
Employees are still owed overtime
- if they work more than the number of hours authorized by the alternative workweek schedule, or
- if they work more than 40 hours in a single workweek.
Note that employers may not retaliate against employers for their opinions concerning having an alternative workweek. 6
Certain healthcare industry workers
Under Wage Orders 4 and 5, healthcare employees under alternative workweek agreements receive time-and-a-half OT for working
- a shift of more than 10 hours but no more than 12 hours in a 40-hour workweek; or
- more than 40 hours in a workweek.
These workers receive double-time OT for working a shift longer than 40 hours.
Meanwhile, healthcare workers residing onsite can agree to a 14-day work period instead of a seven-day week. They receive time-and-a-half overtime for working more than eight hours per workday and more than 80 hours in the 14-day period. Double-time pay kicks in if they work more than 12 hours in a workday.
24-hour childcare employees
Pursuant to Wage Order 5, live-in nannies earn time-and-a-half overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week. Double time is required for working more than:
- 16 hours in a shift, or
- 48 hours in a workweek.
Live-in household employees
Pursuant to Wage Order 15, live-in employees must receive time and one-half for hours worked during required off-duty periods or on the sixth and seventh days of the workweek. Double-time kicks in when they work more than nine hours on those days.
Non-live-in household employees
Pursuant to Wage Order 15, non-live-in household employees do not get overtime on the seventh consecutive workday if:
- their total weekly work hours do not exceed 30 and
- their total daily work hours do not exceed six.
Ambulance teams working for 24-hour shifts
Pursuant to Wage Orders 5 and 9, there is no overtime for ambulance teams working 24-hour shifts who contracted in writing to exclude from their daily time worked up to
- three one-hour meal periods, and
- one sleeping period of up to eight hours.
Certain resident managers
Pursuant to Wage Order 5, resident managers at old-age facilities with less than eight beds are exempt from daily overtime. Though they should receive time-and-a-half overtime pay for working more than 40 hours or six days in a workweek – even in emergencies.
Personal attendants at nonprofits
Under Wage Order 5, personal attendants at nonprofit organizations get time-and-a-half overtime pay for working more than 40 hours or over six days in a workweek – even in emergencies.
Camp counselors
According to Wage Order 5, camp counselors are not subject to daily overtime but must receive time-and-a-half overtime pay for
- hours exceeding 54 in a week or
- more than six days of work in a week.
This is true even in the case of an emergency.
Ski industry employees
Pursuant to Wage Order 10, ski resort employees during active ski months can agree to schedules up to 48 hours per week before overtime applies. They must receive time-and-one-half overtime pay for working more than 10 hours in a workday or more than 48 hours in a workweek.
Minors
Minors covered by Wage Order 12 earn time-and-a-half overtime pay for hours worked on the sixth consecutive workday. This does not apply to 16-or 17-year-olds not legally required to be in school.
“Extra Players”
Under Wage Order 12, “extras” in films and TV receive time-and-a-half overtime for the ninth or 10th hour in a workday. Double-time overtime pay kicks in when they work more than 10 hours in a workday (calculated in one-tenth hour increments).
Agricultural workers
Under Wage Order 14, employers with 25 or fewer employees are required to pay agriculture workers (including sheepherders and irrigators) overtime after nine hours per day or 50 hours per week. Though starting in 2025, regular overtime pay rules will apply to them.
Regular overtime pay rules already apply to agricultural workers at companies that employ 26 or more people.7
2. When do California mandatory overtime rules apply?
Under the time clock rules for hourly employees, non-exempt employees generally may get mandatory overtime pay if they work more than:
- An 8-hour workday (or a 10-hour workday in a four-day “alternative workweek”, or a 12-hour day in a three-day “alternative workweek”); or
- A 40-hour workweek; or
- Six (6) consecutive days in a workweek 8
Each of these overtime requirements is discussed below. Note that workers cannot waive their right to overtime pay.
More than eight hours in a workday
Non-exempt employees are generally entitled to overtime pay if they work more than eight hours in a single workday. Alternatively, non-exempt employees are generally entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 10 hours in a single workday on an alternative workweek schedule. (As discussed above in section 1.5, alternative workweeks generally include four workdays of 10 hours each.)
Unless the employer says otherwise, a workday goes from 12:01 A.M. to midnight. Note that employees who work more than eight hours on a single calendar day may still be ineligible for overtime if those hours are spread over two different workdays.
Example: Jack’s employer scheduled Jack’s workday from 4:00 P.M. to 3:59 P.M. Jack works from 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Even though Jack works ten hours in a row in one calendar day, the first four hours fall on one workday (from 12:00 P.M. to 3:59 P.M.), and the final six hours work on another workday (4:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M.). Therefore, Jack’s work does not trigger overtime pay.
Note that employers cannot change workday start times and end times unless there is a legitimate business reason. Also note that employees are still entitled to overtime pay for working more than eight hours on a particular workday even if they usually work eight or fewer hours a day on average. 9
Also note that people who normally work fewer than eight hours a day are not entitled to overtime pay if they work the full eight hours. They would get their normal wage up until eight hours are worked.
More than 40 hours in a workweek
Non-exempt employees should receive overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a single workweek.
Working more than 40 hours within a week-long period does not automatically entitle employees to overtime if those 40 hours span two separate workweeks:
Example: Moe’s workweek starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. Moe works eight hours a day on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday:
Even though Moe worked 48 hours in a week-long period, 40 of those hours spanned just one workweek, and the other eight hours were in a totally different workweek. Therefore, Moe is not entitled to overtime based on working more than 40 hours in a week-long period.
Note that an employee’s daily overtime hours do not count towards their weekly overtime hours. This means that an employee must work at least 40 hours at a regular hourly rate (straight-time pay) before they can receive overtime for working more than 40 hours in a workweek, even if the employee is already receiving overtime pay for working more than eight hours on a workday.
This rule keeps employees from pyramiding, which is the practice of receiving double credit for their hours worked. 10
Also note that people who normally work fewer than 40 hours a week are not entitled to overtime pay if they work the full 40 hours. They would get their normal wage up until 40 hours are worked.
(See our related article on How many hours can I legally work in a day?)
More than 6 consecutive days in a workweek
Non-exempt employees are generally entitled to overtime pay for a seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.
As with workdays, employers get to decide when their workweek starts. Therefore, working seven days in a row does not automatically entitle employees to overtime if those seven days span two separate workweeks:
Example: Moe’s workweek starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. At one point Moe works eight-hour days on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday:
Even though Moe worked seven days in a row, the final Monday and Tuesday fell on a different workweek than the previous five days. Therefore, Moe is not entitled to overtime pay based purely on working seven days in a row.
Note that employers may have different workweeks for different workers. Employers cannot change workweeks to try to get around obligations to pay employees overtime. 11
For more discussion, see our page on How many days in a row can you work without a day off?
3. How much is overtime pay in California?
California’s overtime rate of pay generally consists of “time and a half.” That is, the overtime calculations are one and one-half times the worker’s regular rate of pay.
Non-exempt employees in California get time-and-a-half OT pay when they work:
- more than 8 hours up to 12 hours in a workday; or
- more than 40 hours in a workweek; or
- the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek
However, employers must pay double-time wages – twice the employee’s regular hourly wage rate – when employees work either:
- more than twelve (12) hours in a single workday, or
- more than eight (8) hours on the seventh consecutive workday. 12
What “hours worked” includes
Note that hours worked include not only time spent working but also the following:
- meal breaks only if the employee is asked to – or allowed to – work during the break;
- rest breaks (which are usually 10 minutes for every four hours worked); 13
- “on call” periods unless the employee is free to participate in personal activities and has sufficient time to go to work when called on (learn more about standby pay); 14
- job preparation time if the prep is integral and indispensable to the job;15
- commuting if it is mandatory to travel on employer-provided transportation, or if the employee must travel to a job site that is far from their office16
4. How soon do I receive overtime pay?
Employers must pay overtime by the second regular payday following the overtime work.17 This way, employers have extra time to collect enough money to make good on overtime pay. 18
5. What if my employer refuses to pay me overtime?
Employees owed overtime typically file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) / California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office. A Deputy Labor Commissioner will then decide whether to:
- Dismiss the claim;
- Refer the matter to a conference, where the parties can hopefully resolve the claim without a hearing. The parties will be mailed the date, time, and location of the conference; or
- Refer the matter to a hearing, where the parties and witnesses can testify under oath in a recorded proceeding. Afterwards, the parties will be served with an ODA, short for an Order, Decision, or Award of the Labor Commissioner. (ODAs can be appealed in a civil court trial. If the employer appeals, the DSLE can represent employees who cannot afford an employment lawyer.) If an employer fails to pay back wages after being ordered to do so, a court will enter a judgment against the employer. The employee can try to collect on it themself or ask that the DLSE do it.
Alternatively, employees can sue the employer for unpaid overtime in a traditional lawsuit. An employer’s officers, directors, owners, and/or managing agents may also be held individually liable if they violate wage and hour laws.19
If the employer retaliates
If an employer retaliates against an employer for filing – or threatening to file – a wage claim, the employee can file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner’s Office or sue the employer. Note that former employees who are still owed overtime pay are also entitled to a waiting time penalty. 20
Unpaid overtime complaints are the most common claims in California wage and hour law. 21 Sometimes employers underpay simply because they are ignorant of the law, and other employers purposely underpay (“wage theft“).
Either way, employees who earn overtime pay may not waive their right to it. 22
6. Can I get overtime if my employer did not authorize it first?
Yes. Non-exempt employees in California should receive overtime pay for unauthorized overtime, which means that the employer did not expressly tell them to work extra hours. All that is required is that the employer
- knew – or
- should have known – that the employee was working extra hours.
(The legal term for this is that the employee was “suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.”)
However, employers can discipline employers for working overtime without getting permission first. Plus employees cannot intentionally keep their bosses in the dark about working extra hours. 23
Note that employers are never allowed to ask their workers to work “off the clock.” 24
7. Can my employer require me to work extra hours?
Yes. Under California’s overtime laws, employers usually can require mandatory overtime (“forced overtime”).
Employers can discipline workers – including firing them – who refuse to comply. An exception is that employers cannot discipline workers who refuse to work the seventh day of a workweek. 25
Note that one of the purposes of overtime pay laws is to encourage employers to hire more people so they can avoid having to pay overtime. This way,
- more people are employed,
- these employees do not have to work extra hours, and
- the employer does not have to pay time-and-a-half or double rates.
See our related article, “Make-Up Time” – What is it and how does it work?
8. Can my employer force me to take comp time pay instead of overtime?
No, California employees do not have to take paid time off (comp time) in lieu of receiving overtime pay. However, employees can ask the employer for comp time instead of overtime if all of the following are true:
- The employee works 40-hour (has full-time employment);
- The employee asked the employer in writing for comp time instead of overtime;
- The employee has not yet accumulated more than 240 hours of comp time; and
- There was already a written agreement between the employer and employee regarding comp time.
Furthermore, the compensating time must be the same as the overtime rate. So if the overtime rate is time-and-a-half, then the employer must grant an hour-and-a-half of paid time off for each overtime hour worked. 26
9. What is my regular rate of pay?
It depends on whether the employee is hourly, salaried, or piece-rate. In any case, a worker’s regular rate of pay may not be below minimum wage (with some exceptions).
California employers use their employees’ regular rate of pay to calculate overtime pay.
Hourly employees
The regular rate of pay for hourly, non-exempt employees is typically their hourly rate. So if someone earns $16.00 an hour, their regular rate of pay is $16.00 an hour. Then that means their overtime remuneration would be
- $24.00 an hour for time-and-a-half pay (1.5 times $16.00) and
- $32 an hour for double-time pay (2 times $16.00).
Though if the same employer pays one employee two or more rates during a single workweek, then their regular rate of pay is determined by dividing the employee’s total earnings (including overtime) by the total hours worked during that workweek. This weighted average is the employee’s regular rate of pay.
Note that shift differentials and/or the “per hour value” of any non-hourly payments the worker has earned factor into what the regular rate of pay is.
Non-discretionary bonuses
In some cases, hourly employees receive a non-discretionary, flat-sum bonus. (Non-discretionary bonuses reward time, skill, or they can serve as an incentive to stay in the job). These bonuses would get divided by the non-overtime hours worked and added to the hourly wage to compute the regular rate of pay.
Example: One week Laura works 30 non-overtime hours at $16.00 per hour. She earns a $30 bonus. The $30 is divided by the 30 non-overtime hours. This equals $1. Therefore, Laura’s rate of pay is $17.00 an hour ($16.00 plus $1).
Exclusions from regular rate of pay
Payments that are not part of the regular rate of pay include:
- discretionary bonuses
- reimbursements for expenses
- gifts
- pay during periods when you do no work (such as sick time, vacations, holidays, lack of work)
- premium pay for work on holidays or weekends as long as the pay is at least one-and-a-half times the regular rate for similar work during normal work hours27
Salaried employees
Non-exempt salaried employees can compute their regular rate of pay by dividing their weekly salary by the number of non-overtime hours they work (up to 40 hours). So if an employee works 40 hours a week and receives $640 each week, their regular rate of pay is $16.00 an hour (divide $640 by 40 hours).28
In order to calculate one’s weekly salary:
- multiply the monthly salary by twelve (months) and then
- divide the product by 52 (weeks).
Piece-rate and commission employees
There are three main ways to determine a regular rate of pay in order to calculate overtime for piecework or commission employees:
- The piece or commission rate.
- The quotient of dividing the employee’s workweek earnings by the hours worked.
- The group rate, which you compute by dividing the total pieces by the number of people in the group. Then each worker receives the group rate times the number of hours they worked.29
Then the standard time-and-a-half and double-time rules apply to any overtime hours worked.
Some workers earn different rates from the same employer depending on the specific job they do. For people who earn more than two rates, their rate of pay is a “weighted average” (which is calculated by dividing the workweek’s entire earnings by all the hours worked).
10. Examples for calculating overtime pay
For the following five examples, Bill’s workweek is Monday through Sunday, and Bill’s workday is from 12:01 A.M. to midnight.
Example 1
One week, Bill’s work schedule is five hours a day from Monday through Saturday, except on Tuesday he works nine hours. Employees should receive one-and-a-half overtime pay for working more than eight hours up to 12 hours in a workday.
Since Bill worked nine hours on Tuesday, he should get eight hours of regular pay plus one hour of 1.5x overtime pay:
Example 2
One week, Bill works five hours a day from Monday through Saturday, except on Tuesday he works 13 hours. Employees should receive one-and-a-half overtime pay for working more than eight hours up to 12 hours in a workday, and employees should receive double overtime pay for working more than 12 hours in a workday.
Since Bill worked 13 hours on Tuesday, he should get eight hours of regular pay plus four hours of 1.5x overtime pay plus one hour of 2x overtime pay:
Example 3
One week, Bill works four hours a day from Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday he works 16 hours. Employees should receive one-and-a-half-time pay for working more than eight hours up to 12 hours in a workday, and employees should receive double-time pay for working more than 12 hours in a workday.
Since Bill worked 16 hours on Sunday, he should get eight hours of regular pay plus four hours of 1.5x overtime pay plus four hours of 2x overtime pay:
Example 4
One week, Bill works seven hours a day from Monday through Sunday. Here, Bill should receive one-and-a-half pay for two reasons:
- Working more than 40 hours in a workweek, and
- Working more than six consecutive days in a workweek.
In these situations, the employer should calculate how much overtime Bill should receive for each reason and then pay Bill the highest of the two:
- Since Bill worked 49 total hours in a workweek – which is nine more hours than the typical workweek maximum – he should receive nine hours of one-and-a-half overtime pay.
- Since Bill worked seven consecutive days – which is one more day than the typical workweek maximum – he should receive one-and-a-half pay for the seven hours he worked on the seventh day.
Since nine hours of overtime pay is bigger than seven hours of overtime pay, Bill should receive nine hours of overtime compensation.
Example 5
One week, Bill works seven hours a day from Monday through Saturday, and then 13 hours on Sunday. Here, Bill should receive one-and-a-half pay for two reasons:
- Working more than 40 hours in a workweek, and
- Working more than six consecutive days in a workweek.
He should receive double-time pay for working more than eight hours on a seventh consecutive workday (Sunday).
Here, Bill worked 15 hours total of overtime. After finishing five hours of work on Saturday, he started to exceed the 40-hour workweek maximum: Those additional two hours he worked on Saturday merit one-and-a-half overtime pay.
For Sunday – which was his seventh consecutive day in a workweek – Bill should get one-and-a-half time pay for the first eight hours and double pay for the final five hours:
Additional resources
For more information on California overtime law, refer to the following:
- How to file a wage claim – Instructions provided by the California Labor Commissioner.
- Free overtime calculator – A program provided by Forbes that lets you input your salary and hours so you can estimate what your paycheck should be.
- An overview of overtime laws by state – A comparison provided by an employment software company.
- Fair Labor: A Brief History of Overtime in America – Audio story by The Takeaway.
- What California Employers Need to Know About Overtime for Employees – Information provided by the Poster Compliance Center.
Legal References
- California Labor Code section 510; see California Labor Code (LC) 2661; see also Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders, California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR); Labor Code 1173; see also the federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- Labor Code 515; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11040; see also Minimum Wage, DIR.
- Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, §§ 11010 – 11170.
- Labor Code 514.
- 29 U.S.C. § 207; LC, 510; LC 3353.
- Same. LC 510; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 11010 – 11170.
- Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, §§ 11040, 11050, 11140, 11150. California Assembly Bill 1066 (2020).
- LC 510.
- Same; see also Seymore v. Metson Marine, Inc., (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 361.
- LC 510; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8 § 11170; Monzon v. Schaefer Ambulance Serv. (1990) 224 Cal.App.3d 16.
- LC 510.
- LC 510 – 511.
- Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, §§ 11010 – 11170.
- See Gomez v. Lincare, Inc., (2009) 173 Cal.App.4th 508.
- See Mitchell v. King Packing Co. (1956) 350 U.S. 260.
- See LC 510; 29 C.F.R. § 785.37; Morillion v. Royal Packing Co. (2000) 22 Cal.4th 575;
- LC 204.
- Same.
- See Post v. Palo/Haklar & Associates, (2000) 23 Cal.4th 942. LC 558.1.
- LC 203.
- See Stephanie Plancich, et al., Trends in Wage and Hour Settlements: 2015 Update.
- LC 1194.
- See Morillion v. Royal Packing Co. (2000) 22 Cal.4th 575. See Troester v. Starbucks Corp. (2018) 5 Cal.5th 829. See Isner v. Falkenberg/Gilliam & Assoc. (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 1393. See Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004.
- See Bradley v. Networkers Internat., LLC (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 1129.
- See Overtime, DIR.
- LC 204.3.
- See Huntington Memorial Hospital v. Superior Court (2005) 131 Cal.App.4th 893.; Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation of California, (2016) 4 Cal. 5th 542; see note 25.
- LC 515.
- See note 25.