California Overtime Calculator

Estimate California overtime pay from your weekly hours plus any identified double-time and 7th-day premium hours, with a clear breakdown of regular, 1.5×, and 2× pay.

Total Gross Pay
$1,375.00
Total pay for this pay period including all overtime
Regular Pay
$1,000.00
40 hours at $25.00/hr
Overtime Pay (1.5×)
$375.00
10 hours at time-and-a-half
Double Time Pay (2×)
$0.00
Hours worked beyond 12 in a day
Effective Hourly Rate
$27.50
Average rate including all overtime premiums
OT % of Gross
27.3%
Portion of pay from overtime premiums
Annualized Gross
$71,500.00
Projected annual gross at this rate
Monthly Gross
$5,958.33
Average monthly gross pay

Pay Composition

🟢 Regular🟡 OT 1.5×🔴 DT 2×
Pay TypeHoursRatePay
Regular (1.0×)40$25.00$1,000.00
Overtime (1.5×)10$37.50$375.00
Total50$1,375.00
Planning notes, formulas, and examples

About the California Overtime Calculator

California overtime is more complex than the standard federal 40-hours-per-week rule. Nonexempt employees can earn time-and-a-half after 8 hours in a workday, double time after 12 hours in a workday, and special premium pay on the 7th consecutive day of a workweek.

Because of that structure, the most reliable way to use this calculator is to start with your weekly total hours and then separately identify any hours that belong in California's double-time or 7th-day buckets. The page then turns those buckets into a payroll-style gross-pay estimate so you can review how much of the week was paid at 1.0×, 1.5×, and 2.0×.

Use it as a worksheet for paycheck checking and planning, not as a substitute for detailed payroll records. If you have alternative workweek schedules, nondiscretionary bonuses, or disputed time records, confirm the result against the employer's timekeeping data and the California Labor Commissioner's overtime guidance.

When This Page Helps

California overtime pay depends on daily hours, weekly totals, double-time thresholds, and the 7th consecutive day rule. This calculator turns those rules into a payroll-style breakdown so workers can verify paychecks and employers can check premium pay quickly.

How to Use the Inputs

  1. Enter your hourly base rate of pay
  2. Enter the total weekly hours you want to model
  3. Add any hours that already belong in the double-time bucket (usually hours beyond 12 in a day)
  4. Enter 7th consecutive day hours only when that rule actually applies
  5. Use the breakdown table to verify how the calculator allocated regular, 1.5×, and 2.0× pay
  6. Select your pay frequency for annualized projections
  7. Compare the estimate against your time records before relying on it for a payroll dispute
Formula used
California Overtime Rules: - Regular: First 8 hours/day, up to 40 hours/week → 1.0× rate - Daily OT: Hours 8–12 in a single day → 1.5× rate - Daily DT: Hours beyond 12 in a single day → 2.0× rate - Weekly OT: Hours beyond 40 in a week → 1.5× rate - 7th Day (first 8 hrs): 1.5× rate - 7th Day (beyond 8 hrs): 2.0× rate

Example Calculation

Result: $1,375 total gross pay

At $25/hr working 50 hours: 40 regular hours = $1,000, 10 overtime hours at $37.50 = $375. Total gross is $1,375 with an effective rate of $27.50/hr.

Tips & Best Practices

  • Track daily hours carefully because California OT depends on the day-by-day pattern, not only the weekly total
  • The 7th consecutive day rule applies to any 7-day workweek, not just Sunday
  • Alternative workweek schedules (e.g., 4×10) may modify daily OT thresholds
  • Non-exempt salary employees also earn OT — divide salary by 40 for hourly rate
  • Keep detailed time records — California law requires employers to maintain them

California Overtime Notes

Track the hours by day before you total the week. Daily overtime starts after 8 hours in a day, double time starts after 12, and the 7th consecutive day has its own premium rules. If the pay stub includes bonuses or alternative workweek schedules, verify whether those items change the regular rate or the applicable threshold.

How To Use This Worksheet Safely

This page works best when you already know how many hours belong in each premium bucket. Use your timecard or payroll breakdown to separate ordinary hours from daily double-time and 7th-day hours first. Then compare the calculator output with the pay stub instead of assuming the weekly total alone tells the full California overtime story.

Common Mistakes

The most common errors are double-counting the same hours as both daily and weekly overtime, skipping the 7th day rule, or using the wrong hourly base rate when a nondiscretionary bonus applies. Recheck the day-by-day breakdown if the total seems too low.

Sources & Methodology

Last updated:

Methodology

This worksheet starts with the entered weekly total, then treats any hours explicitly marked as double time as 2.0x hours and any entered seventh-consecutive-day hours under California's separate 7th-day premium rules. It uses the remaining weekly hours to allocate up to 40 regular hours and then weekly overtime at 1.5x.

Because California overtime depends on the daily time pattern and regular-rate adjustments, this calculator is only as accurate as the premium-hour buckets entered by the user. It does not determine whether an alternative workweek schedule applies and does not recalculate the regular rate for nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, or commissions.

Sources

  • Overtime (California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement) — Official California Labor Commissioner FAQ covering the general 8-hour, 12-hour, weekly, and seventh-day overtime rules.
  • California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 11040 (California Department of Industrial Relations) — Wage Order 4 text describing daily overtime, weekly overtime, and seventh consecutive day premium pay.
  • Exceptions to the general overtime law (California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement) — Official reference for alternative workweek and industry-specific exceptions that this worksheet does not model.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes. California requires overtime pay (1.5× rate) for hours worked beyond 8 in a single day, and double time (2× rate) for hours beyond 12 in a day.