How to Calculate Your Overtime Pay the Right Way (US, CA, and Beyond)

Most hourly workers in the US are owed overtime after 40 hours per week, and most are owed more than they think. The math looks simple (1.5× over 40), but the details — daily overtime in California, the “regular rate of pay” definition, salaried-exempt employees, and the seventh-consecutive-day rule — change the answer in ways that affect your paycheck.

This post walks through the federal US rule, the California daily-OT variation, and how to calculate the actual number on your paycheck.

The US federal rule (FLSA)

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid:

• 1.5× the regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
• The workweek is any fixed, recurring 7-day period (not necessarily Monday-Sunday; the employer picks).
• The “regular rate” is hourly pay + most nondiscretionary bonuses + shift differentials. It is not just the base hourly rate.

Worked example

Hourly rate: $25/hour. Hours worked: 50 in a workweek.

• Regular pay: 40 × $25 = $1,000
• Overtime: 10 × $25 × 1.5 = $375
• Total: $1,375 for the week

That is the federal floor. State law can be more generous; California is the most well-known case.

California daily overtime (and 7th-day double-time)

California goes further than federal law in three ways:

1. 1.5× for hours over 8 in a single workday.
2. 2× for hours over 12 in a single workday.
3. 1.5× for the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive workday; 2× thereafter.

These apply in addition to the federal 40-hour rule. If both daily and weekly OT apply, the employee gets the higher of the two.

Worked California example

Hourly rate: $25. Worked 5 days × 10 hours/day = 50 hours in the week.

• Day 1-5: 8 regular hours/day at $25 = 40 × $25 = $1,000
• Day 1-5: 2 OT hours/day at $25 × 1.5 = 10 × $37.50 = $375
• Total: $1,375

That is the same as the federal case, because 5 × 10 = 50 hours, and 10 hours of daily OT is the same as 10 hours of weekly OT.

A case where daily OT wins

4 days × 12 hours = 48 hours, no seventh consecutive day:

• Day 1-4: 8 regular hours/day at $25 = 32 × $25 = $800
• Day 1-4: 4 OT hours/day at $25 × 1.5 = 16 × $37.50 = $600
• Total: $1,400

Under federal law alone, the answer would have been 40 × $25 + 8 × $37.50 = $1,300. California daily OT added $100.

A case where the 7th-day rule kicks in

6 days × 8 hours + 1 day × 8 hours (7th consecutive day) = 56 hours. The 7th day:

• First 8 hours: 1.5× = $300
• Anything after: 2×

This is the part that surprises workers. The 7th consecutive day gets you to double-time on top of the daily and weekly rules.

Who is exempt from overtime?

Under federal law, employees are exempt from overtime if they are paid on a salary basis (not hourly) AND meet the salary level test AND are engaged in executive, administrative, or professional duties. The 2024 federal rule raised the salary threshold to $844/week ($43,888/year); the 2019 rule had it at $684/week. Many states have their own higher thresholds.

If you are paid hourly, you are almost never exempt. If you are salaried and earning below the threshold, you are owed overtime.

How to calculate your actual paycheck

The math is mechanical: sum up regular hours and OT hours, apply the right multiplier, and pay attention to the workweek. For most hourly employees, the answer is:

Total pay = (Regular hours × Hourly rate) + (OT hours × Hourly rate × 1.5)
         + (Double-time hours × Hourly rate × 2)

For California, also include daily OT and 7th-day rules. The Uttir Overtime Calculator runs both the US-standard case and the California case in one pass — enter your hours by day, set your rate, and see the breakdown by regular, 1.5×, and 2× hours.

Bottom line

Overtime in the US is 1.5× the regular rate after 40 hours a week. California layers daily OT (1.5× after 8 hours, 2× after 12) and 7th-day double-time on top. The math is the same; the categorization of which hours get which multiplier is the part that changes. The Uttir Overtime Calculator does the categorization for you and runs in your browser with no upload.