California overtime, double time and the seventh day
Daily overtime after 8 hours, double time after 12, the seventh day, and how weekly overtime fits.
Last reviewed October 30, 2026. This article explains the rules in plain words. It is not legal advice: your company and its counsel decide your policy.
Federal law pays overtime only after 40 hours in a workweek. California adds daily overtime, double time, and a seventh-day rule, all under Labor Code 510.
The rules#
| Hours | Rate |
|---|---|
| More than 8 in a workday, up to 12 | 1.5x |
| More than 12 in a workday | 2x |
| The first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek | 1.5x |
| More than 8 hours on that seventh day | 2x |
| More than 40 in the workweek | 1.5x, not counting hours already paid as daily overtime |
A workday is a 24-hour period the employer defines. The seventh day means working all seven days of the same workweek, not any seven days in a row (Mendoza v. Nordstrom, 2017).
A worked example#
Tom works 13 hours 30 minutes on Tuesday, plus regular 8-hour days Monday, Wednesday and Thursday:
| Regular | Overtime | Double time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 8 h | 4 h | 1 h 30 min |
| The other three days | 24 h | ||
| Week | 32 h | 4 h | 1 h 30 min |
The week has 37 h 30 min in total, under 40, so no weekly overtime is added. Had he worked a fifth 8-hour day, the week would have 45 h 30 min, but 5 h 30 min of it is already daily overtime or double time, so the regular hours stay at 40 and nothing is paid twice.
Alternative workweek schedules#
Under Labor Code 511, employees can adopt an alternative workweek, such as four 10-hour days, by a two-thirds secret ballot filed with the state. Inside that schedule, the 10 hours carry no daily overtime; hours beyond the scheduled day still do.
Other states with daily overtime#
Alaska (employers with 4 or more employees: more than 8 hours a day), Nevada (only for employees paid less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage, unless on a 4-by-10 agreement) and Colorado (more than 12 hours in a workday or 12 consecutive hours) also pay daily overtime. Kentucky pays 1.5x for the seventh day.
How Oh! Thyme handles it#
Every shift is split into regular, overtime and double time from the punches, the seventh day is counted inside the workweek, and weekly overtime never double-counts. Each kind goes to payroll under its own earning code. See breaks and overtime.
Sources#
- Labor Code 510: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Labor Code 511: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Mendoza v. Nordstrom (2017) 2 Cal.5th 1074
- FLSA weekly overtime, 29 USC 207: law.cornell.edu
- Colorado COMPS Order: cdle.colorado.gov