In California, Overtime Rates Apply on a Daily Basis
People often call our law firm to find out how overtime rates are applied in California. Unlike many other states and federal law, California overtime is based on a work day and not a work week. In California, overtime must be paid for each hour worked over 8 hours in a work day. It does not matter how many hours are worked in the week, all that matters is how many hours are worked on a given work day.
Federal law is much different. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the federal law), overtime is calculated on a weekly basis. Under federal law, a person is entitled to overtime for each hour worked over 40 in a work week. A person might work 12 hours on a given work day and not be entitled to any overtime so long as that person works less than 40 hours during that work week.
California employees, however, need not worry about the federal law because that does not apply to them. Instead, the California daily basis test applies to them instead of the federal weekly basis test. The bottom line is that California employees are entitled to overtime pay for each hour worked over 8 hours in a given work day – regardless of how many hours they work during the week.
