Free tool · California §510

What does that schedule actually pay in California?

California overtime runs by the day: 1.5× after 8 hours, 2× after 12, special rates on the 7th consecutive day. Enter your crew’s real schedule and see the lawful breakdown next to what federal weekly-only math would pay. The difference is what an out-of-state payroll system silently underpays, every week.

Reviewed Uniform-schedule estimate Software, not legal advice

Your schedule, both ways

Assumes a uniform schedule and a single hourly rate, with no adopted Alternative Workweek Schedule. Excludes the bonus effect on the regular rate — real numbers usually run higher.

32 · 8 · 0hours at 1× · 1.5× · 2×
$1,408California weekly pay / worker
$1,280federal-only math would pay
$128underpaid / worker / week
$133,120annual exposure across the crew if payroll runs federal-only math

32 × $32 + 8 × $48 + 0 × $64 = $1,408 a worker, a week

Gap: $128 × 52 weeks × 20 workers = $133,120 a year

California pay$1,408
Federal-only pay$1,280

§510: 1.5× after 8 hrs/day and past 40 straight-time hrs/week · 2× after 12 hrs/day · 7th consecutive day 1.5×/2× · no pyramiding — each hour at its highest single rate.

The short answer

California pays overtime on the day: 1.5× the regular rate after 8 hours in a workday, 2× after 12, and 1.5× then 2× on the seventh consecutive day, with 1.5× past 40 straight-time hours in the week (Labor Code §510). Four 10-hour days owe zero federal overtime but eight California overtime hours.

Forty hours across four days is 40 hours federally, so no overtime at all. In California it is eight overtime hours, two per day, because each day passed 8. The gap on a $32 rate is $128 per worker per week, or $6,656 a year, before you multiply by the crew. Hours are never counted twice: each hour is paid at its single highest applicable rate.

How does this calculator work out the pay?

For each day it splits the hours into tiers: up to 8 at 1×, hours 9 to 12 at 1.5×, beyond 12 at 2×. On a seventh consecutive day, the first 8 hours are 1.5× and the rest 2×. Then any straight-time hours beyond 40 in the week move up to 1.5×. Pay is hours in each tier times your wage times 1, 1.5 or 2, and the formula line under the results shows the sum for your inputs. The federal column pays 1.5× only on total weekly hours past 40.

Does a bonus change the overtime rate?

Yes. Overtime is 1.5× the regular rate, and the regular rate is not the hourly wage. It includes nondiscretionary compensation: production bonuses, attendance bonuses, shift differentials, piece-rate earnings and non-hourly incentive pay. Only genuinely discretionary gifts stay out.

California then diverges from federal law on how to fold a bonus in. Under Alvarado v. Dart Container (2018), a flat-sum bonus — a fixed amount that doesn't grow with hours worked, like $100 for finishing the week — is divided by the non-overtime hours actually worked, not by total hours. Federal law (29 CFR §778.110) divides by total hours. Dividing by the larger federal denominator produces a smaller regular rate and therefore underpays the overtime.

Base wage$30/hr, 45 hours worked in the week$30.00 / hr
Flat-sum weekly bonus$100 for completing the week — does not scale with hours$100.00
Federal method$100 ÷ 45 total hours = $2.22 added to the regular rate$32.22 / hr
California method — Alvarado$100 ÷ 40 non-overtime hours = $2.50 added$32.50 / hr
Underpayment per overtime hour, using the federal method$0.42
Forty-two cents an hour is how wage-and-hour class actions start. It looks like a rounding difference and it is actually a systematic, repeating, provable underpayment across every bonused worker and every overtime hour. The calculator uses a flat hourly rate, so it does not model bonuses; if your crew earns them, your real gap is wider than what's shown.

What does this calculator leave out?

The comparison above is a floor, not a full payroll engine. It models a uniform schedule at a flat hourly rate and excludes:

  • Nondiscretionary bonuses and piece rates in the regular rate — as above, these push the real figure up.
  • Meal and rest premiums, which are separate obligations under §226.7 and stack on top. Price those separately
  • Alternative workweek schedules, the one lawful route to a 4×10 without daily overtime — see below.
  • Compensable travel time under Morillion, which lengthens the workday and can push hours across the 8- and 12-hour thresholds.
  • Prevailing-wage and certified-payroll rates on public works, which set their own floors, and union contracts that meet Labor Code §514, which replace daily overtime with the agreement's premium rates.
Why the gap exists

Why does California pay more than federal law? It counts the day.

Payroll platforms tuned for federal rules watch one number: 40 hours a week. California adds four more triggers, and they fire constantly on field crews:

ScheduleFederal OT owedCalifornia OT owed
4 days × 10 hours (40 total)0 hrs8 hrs at 1.5×
5 days × 9 hours (45 total)5 hrs at 1.5×5 hrs at 1.5× — same, by luck
3 days × 13 hours (39 total)0 hrs12 hrs at 1.5× + 3 hrs at 2×
7 days × 8 hours (56 total)16 hrs at 1.5×16 hrs at 1.5× incl. the whole 7th day

Every underpaid hour is a wage claim with a 3-year lookback, and unpaid wages arm the same penalty stack as break violations — waiting time, wage statements, PAGA. The rules behind each row are in the full overtime guide

Can I run four 10-hour days without paying overtime?

Row one of that table is the schedule contractors want most, and there is a legal route to it: an Alternative Workweek Schedule. In construction, Wage Order 16 §3(B) allows up to 10 hours a day within a 40-hour week without daily overtime, but only through a formal election, and it fails if the procedure fails.

In outline: the employer proposes a specific schedule in writing to a defined work unit, makes a written disclosure and holds a noticed meeting at least 14 days before the vote, runs a secret ballot before the work is performed that needs a two-thirds majority of the affected employees in the unit, and reports the results to the DIR Office of the Director–Research within 30 days. Once adopted, the unit can work up to 10 hours a day without daily overtime, but overtime still applies beyond the adopted schedule and past 40 hours in the week (1.5×), and past 12 hours in a day or past 8 on a day outside the schedule (2×).

Two traps do most of the damage. First, an AWS belongs to a work unit, not to individuals, so moving a worker between units, or hiring into one, requires care about which schedule they are actually under. Second, an improperly adopted AWS is not a partial defense; the Labor Commissioner can render it null and void, which makes every hour past 8 across the period it was in effect owed at overtime rates. Adopting one without counsel is a genuinely bad idea.

Primary sources
  1. Labor Code §510 — daily overtime, double time, seventh consecutive day
  2. Labor Code §511 — alternative workweek schedules
  3. Labor Code §514 — collective bargaining agreements
  4. IWC Wage Order 16 — on-site construction, §3 hours and days of work (PDF)
  5. California DIR / DLSE — overtime FAQ
  6. Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. (2018) — flat-sum bonuses and the regular rate
  7. Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel (2021) — regular rate of compensation (PDF)
  8. 29 CFR §778.110 — the federal regular-rate method, for contrast with Alvarado
Questions

How the math works.

How is California overtime calculated?

Per day: beyond 8 hours at 1.5×, beyond 12 at 2×. Per week: straight-time hours beyond 40 at 1.5×, and the 7th consecutive day at 1.5× (first 8) and 2× (after). Each hour is paid at the highest single rate it qualifies for — no pyramiding.

What is the federal-math gap?

The FLSA only triggers past 40 hours a week. California adds the daily, double-time and 7th-day triggers, so weekly-only payroll math underpays every long day. Four 10-hour days: zero federal overtime, eight hours of California overtime.

What does the calculator assume?

Uniform daily hours, one hourly rate, no adopted Alternative Workweek Schedule, and no bonus effect on the regular rate — so real exposure usually runs higher (Alvarado v. Dart Container).

Is this legal advice?

No — it is a planning estimate from a software company. Real payroll needs per-day, per-worker math on the regular rate; for actual exposure, talk to employment counsel.

Related

CDO runs this math on every punch, live.

Daily, weekly, 7th-day and double-time tiers computed as the day happens and pre-filled into payroll for a person to approve, with the record already written.

Request a demo — 20 min Read the overtime guide