California does not wait for 40 hours. Overtime starts after 8 hours in a day, double time after 12 — this calculator applies the full California rule set.
| Day | Clock in | Clock out | Break (min) |
|---|---|---|---|
Not included: California meal and rest break premiums (the extra hour of pay owed when a compliant break is not provided) are not part of this estimate — they depend on your employer's break practices, not just your hours.
California's overtime rules come from the Labor Code and the Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders, summarised by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR):
Meal and rest break premiums are NOT included. California's extra hour of pay for a missed or non-compliant meal/rest break depends on break practices, not just hours, so it is deliberately left out of this estimate. Source: California DIR, "Overtime" FAQ — dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtime.htm. Last verified: November 2026.
One estimator for all 50 states: the federal rule where it applies, and the real daily-overtime logic for California, Alaska, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon.
Free — try itThe federal rule in one box: weekly hours and your rate in, regular hours, overtime hours at 1.5× and total gross pay out.
Free — try itFor nurses and everyone on 12s: per-shift paid hours, 3×12 and 4×12 weekly totals, and overtime under federal or California rules.
Free — try itThe flagship weekly time card: clock in/out and breaks for 7 days, overtime split at 40 hours, gross pay, print and CSV — plus Save My Week on your device.
Free — try itHours 1–8 in a day are regular, hours 9–12 are paid at 1.5 times your rate, and hours beyond 12 are paid at double time. This applies per workday regardless of the weekly total.
If you work all seven days of a single workweek, the 7th day is special: its first 8 hours are paid at 1.5× and any hours after that at 2×, even if the day is short.
No. An hour paid at a daily overtime rate is not counted again toward the 40-hour weekly threshold. You receive whichever treatment benefits you more for each hour, never both premiums on the same hour.
No. California's premium pay for missed meal or rest breaks (one extra hour at your regular rate per violation per day) is not part of this calculator, because it depends on whether compliant breaks were actually provided.
Only if your employer has NOT adopted a valid alternative workweek schedule. With a properly adopted 4/10 schedule, the daily trigger moves to 10 hours. Without one, hours 9 and 10 each day are daily overtime at 1.5×.
California is scored day first, week second. Every day is split on its own: the first 8 paid hours are regular, hours 8 to 12 earn 1.5×, and anything past 12 earns 2×. A day that is the 7th consecutive worked day in the week is special — its first 8 hours earn 1.5× and the rest earns 2×, with no regular hours at all. After the daily splits, the week is reconciled: any regular hours still sitting above 40 for the week are moved into overtime, so an hour is never paid at two premiums (no pyramiding) and the employee always gets the better of the daily and weekly counts.
At $20/hour with unpaid 30-minute breaks: Monday to Friday you work 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM — 9:00 a day, split 8:00 regular + 1:00 overtime each. Saturday you work 9:00 AM to 10:30 PM — 13:00, split 8:00 regular + 4:00 overtime + 1:00 double time. Sunday, your 7th consecutive day, you work 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM — 10:00, split 8:00 overtime + 2:00 double time. The week totals 68:00 hours — 40:00 regular, 25:00 overtime and 3:00 double time — for a gross of $1,670.00 ($800.00 + $750.00 + $120.00).
The calculator counts a run of days with hours in them, in this Monday-to-Sunday week: six worked days in a row make the next worked day the 7th, and a day with no hours breaks the run. Work Monday to Saturday and Sunday is scored under the 7th-day rule; take Wednesday off and the run restarts.
Yes. The daily split does not look at the week at all: a single 9-hour day contains 1 hour of daily overtime even if the rest of the week is empty. Short weeks are exactly where California's rule differs most from the federal weekly rule, under which that same day would be entirely regular time.
Yes, through the reconciliation step. Six 8-hour days produce no daily overtime, but they leave 48 regular hours; the 8 hours above the weekly 40 are moved into overtime, giving 40 regular + 8 overtime. Hours already paid at a daily premium are never moved or counted twice.
No — it models hourly, non-exempt schedules, which are the schedules California's daily overtime rules are built for. Whether a particular role is exempt is a legal classification based on duties and salary tests; your employer or the California Department of Industrial Relations is the authority, not this calculator.
Set “Breaks paid” to Yes and break minutes stay in the day's paid time instead of coming off. That can move a day across a threshold: a 9:00-to-6:30 shift with a paid 30-minute break is 9.5 paid hours, so it holds 1.5 hours of daily overtime instead of 1.
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