California has some of the most worker-friendly overtime rules in the country — and some of the most confusing. Here’s the plain-English version, with a worked example, so you can spot when you’re owed extra.
The three rules that matter
For most hourly (nonexempt) employees in California, overtime comes from three rules running at the same time. It helps to know what they are.
1. Daily overtime
- Work more than 8 hours in a single workday → those extra hours are paid at 1.5× (time-and-a-half).
- Work more than 12 hours in a single workday → everything past 12 is paid at 2× (double-time).
2. Weekly overtime
- Work more than 40 hours in a workweek → the hours over 40 are paid at 1.5×.
- Important: you don’t get paid twice for the same hour. Hours already counted as daily overtime aren’t counted again toward the weekly 40.
3. The 7th-consecutive-day rule
- If you work all 7 days in one workweek, the 7th day is special: the first 8 hours are paid at 1.5×, and anything over 8 hours that day is paid at 2×.
A worked example
Say you earn $28/hour and you work these hours in one week:
| Day | Hours | How it’s paid |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8 | 8 regular |
| Tuesday | 10 | 8 regular + 2 at 1.5× |
| Wednesday | 8 | 8 regular |
| Thursday | 13 | 8 regular + 4 at 1.5× + 1 at 2× |
| Friday | 8 | 8 regular |
That’s 40 regular hours, 6 hours at time-and-a-half, and 1 hour at double-time. In dollars:
- Regular: 40 × $28 = $1,120.00
- Overtime (1.5×): 6 × $42 = $252.00
- Double-time (2×): 1 × $56 = $56.00
- Estimated gross: $1,428.00
Miss that single double-time hour and you’d be shorted $28 — exactly the kind of gap that’s easy to overlook on a busy week.
How Counted handles this
You don’t do this math. In Counted you pick California as your state once (per profile), and from then on every shift you log is split into regular, 1.5× and 2× automatically — the daily 8-hour and 12-hour rules and the weekly 40-hour rule. Your Pay view shows the breakdown line by line, and the Pay Checker can compare it to what your employer actually paid.
One honest note: the 7th-consecutive-day rule isn’t calculated automatically yet — it’s on the roadmap. If you work all seven days of a workweek, use the rule above to check that day yourself (first 8 hours at 1.5×, beyond 8 at 2×).
Stop doing overtime math in your head
Counted applies your state’s rules to every shift automatically and shows you exactly what you’re owed.
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