California overtime

California pays daily overtime on top of the federal 40-hour week. The calculator toggle is a worksheet for Labor Code 510-style splits — not a substitute for a wage order review.

The default California split

For most nonexempt employees, eight hours is a day’s work. Hours over 8 and up to 12 in a workday, and hours over 40 in a workweek, are due at 1.5× the regular rate. Hours over 12 in a workday are due at 2×.

Hours in one workday	Default pay
First 8	Straight time
After 8, through 12	1.5×
After 12	2×

Seventh consecutive day of work

If an employee works seven days in the same defined workweek, the first eight hours on that seventh day of work are 1.5× and hours after eight are 2×. The rule is tied to the employer’s workweek, not to any seven calendar days that straddle two workweeks. The DIR overtime FAQ is the plain-language source: dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Overtime.htm.

Daily and weekly are not stacked

California does not require an employer to combine more than one overtime rate on the same hour. The OTPayUS California toggle assigns daily overtime and double-time first, then converts leftover straight-time hours over 40 into weekly 1.5×. A five-day week of 10-hour days becomes 40 regular hours and 10 overtime hours — not 40 regular plus another weekly OT layer on the same hours.

What the toggle does not cover

Alternative workweek elections (often 4×10s) under Labor Code 511 and the IWC orders.
Industry wage orders with special hospital, agriculture, or domestic rules.
A full legal regular-rate rebuild when bonuses or multiple rates apply.
Meal and rest premium pay, which is a separate California obligation.

Worked example

$20 an hour, five 10-hour days: 40 hours at $20 = $800, plus 10 hours at $30 = $300. Gross $1,100. Overtime premium $100. Run it with the “CA five 10s” chip on the overtime pay calculator.

For the statute, see California Labor Code section 510.