California overtime calculator

California overtime rules

California counts overtime by the day as well as by the week. These are the general rules for nonexempt employees 18 and older; some occupations have their own rules in their wage order.

Sources: the California Labor Commissioner's overtime FAQ and Labor Code section 510. Federal law has no daily overtime and no double time: it starts time and a half after 40 hours in the workweek, as the overtime calculator explains.

How the card counts a California week

1. Each day is split first: up to 8 hours at the regular rate, the 9th to the 12th hour at 1.5×, and anything past 12 at 2×.
2. Regular hours add up through the workweek. Once they reach 40, the regular hours left in the week move to 1.5×.
3. Hours already paid at 1.5× or 2× for the day are left out of that 40, so the card never pays a premium twice for the same hour.
4. When all seven days of the workweek have hours, the seventh row turns purple: its first 8 hours are paid at 1.5× and the rest at 2×.

Under each day's hours the card shows the time at ×1.5 and at ×2. Set Week starts on under Card settings to your employer's workweek, because the seventh day is counted inside one workweek. Seven days in a row that cross from one workweek into the next are not a seventh day: the Labor Commissioner's own example has an employee whose workweek starts on Monday work ten days in a row, Wednesday to the next Friday, at 8 hours a day with no overtime due (DLSE Enforcement Manual, section 48.1.3.2).

Example: a seven-day week

Under the federal rule alone the same 63 hours pay $1,490.00: 23 hours over 40 at $30. The two hours at 2×, the 13th hour on Wednesday and the 9th on Sunday, add $20.00 in California. Type the same times into the card above and it shows each day's split under the day's hours.

Alternative workweek schedules (4/10)

Employees can adopt an alternative workweek schedule, such as four 10-hour days, in a secret ballot election that needs a two-thirds vote of the affected employees. On a 4/10 schedule, the 10 scheduled hours of each workday are paid at the regular rate. Overtime then works like this (Labor Code section 511; DLSE Enforcement Manual, sections 56.2 and 56.23):

• 1.5× for work beyond the scheduled hours up to 12 hours in a day, and for work over 40 hours in the week.
• 2× for work over 12 hours in a day.
• On a day worked beyond the scheduled workdays, such as a fifth day on a 4/10 schedule, the first 8 hours at 1.5× and anything past 8 at 2×.

The card's California rules use the 8-hour day. For a 4/10 schedule, choose Daily and weekly limits as the overtime rule and set the daily limit to 10 hours: hours past 10 in a day and past 40 in the week then count at 1.5×. That setting has no double time, so add the hours past 12 in a day, and past 8 on an extra day, yourself.

Missed meal and rest breaks

When an employer does not provide a required meal period, it owes one additional hour of pay at the regular rate for that workday. The same applies to rest periods: one hour for a workday without them, however many rest breaks were missed. That extra hour is not counted as hours worked for overtime (Labor Code section 226.7; the Labor Commissioner's FAQs on meal periods and rest periods).

With California rules the card notes a day over 5 hours without a 30-minute unpaid break, and a day over 10 hours without a second one. The notes are information only: the card does not add the extra hour to pay. The time card calculator with lunch takes lunch punches and covers the meal period rules in more detail. This is general information, not legal advice.

Regular rate with differentials and bonuses

Overtime is paid on the regular rate of pay, which can be higher than the base wage. For an hourly employee in California, the regular rate includes shift differentials and the hourly value of other pay earned in the period, such as a nondiscretionary bonus. Discretionary bonuses and gifts are left out. Enter a night or weekend differential under Card settings and the card adds it to the regular rate before it works out the 1.5× and 2× hours.

A flat-sum bonus, such as one paid for showing up every day, is divided by the maximum regular hours the law allows in the period it covers, usually 40 in a week, and not by every hour worked. That gives a higher overtime rate on the bonus than the federal method, which spreads a bonus over all hours worked (29 CFR 778.110). Source: the Labor Commissioner's overtime FAQ.

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