Overtime Rules by State: What Employers Need to Pay

Overtime starts with one federal rule, but the mistake usually happens when an employer assumes that one rule is enough.

Federal law says non-exempt employees get 1.5× their regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek. That rule applies in every state. But California, Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, Kentucky, and several industry-specific state rules can change what you owe before the week even reaches 40 hours.

For a small employer, the practical question is simple: which employee, in which state, worked which hours? If you answer that correctly, overtime is mostly math. If you answer it from your headquarters state, a job title, or the next payroll run, the exposure can build quietly across every affected employee and every pay period.

This article is the employer workflow version. For the full source trail and state-by-state research table, see our overtime laws by state research.

Where overtime gets stricter than federal — hover any state for the specific rule.

The Short Version

• Federal baseline: pay 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a fixed workweek.
• Daily overtime states: California, Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado have general daily overtime rules.
• Double-time: California is the only general state rule requiring 2× pay after 12 hours in a day and after 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day.
• 7th-day premium: California and Kentucky have general 7th-day premium rules, with Kentucky limited by its 40-hour workweek exception.
• Industry-specific rules: Oregon, Connecticut, Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Maryland, New York, Kansas, and Minnesota have narrower rules that depend on industry, occupation, age, or FLSA coverage.
• Exempt status: a salary by itself does not remove overtime. The employee must satisfy the salary basis, salary threshold, and duties tests.
• Regular rate: bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, and multiple hourly rates can all change the rate used for overtime.

The Mistake Employers Make

The most common overtime error is not a math error. It is choosing the wrong rule before doing the math.

A Texas business with a California remote employee cannot apply Texas overtime rules to that California work. A California employee who works four 10-hour days can be owed daily overtime even though the weekly total is only 40. A salaried "manager" who mostly follows procedures and cannot hire or fire may still be non-exempt. A production bonus can increase the overtime rate for the same workweek.

That is why overtime needs to be configured by the employee's work state, exemption status, pay type, and workweek. A single national 40-hour setting is fine for some employers, but it is not a safe default for every workforce.

Federal Overtime: The Floor

Federal overtime comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule is 1.5× the employee's regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek (29 USC §207(a)(1)).

Three details matter in payroll:

1. The workweek is fixed. You choose a 7-day workweek, but once chosen it must be fixed and regularly recurring (29 CFR §778.105).
2. Weeks cannot be averaged. A 50-hour week followed by a 30-hour week still has 10 overtime hours in the 50-hour week.
3. The overtime rate is based on the regular rate. That may be higher than the base hourly rate when bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, or multiple rates are involved.

Federal law does not require daily overtime, double-time, or extra pay for weekends or holidays by itself. Those obligations come from state law, an employment agreement, a collective bargaining agreement, or a separate premium-pay policy.

States That Change The Overtime Math

California

California is the state most likely to surprise an employer because it adds daily overtime, double-time, and a 7th-day rule.

Trigger	California rule
Over 8 hours in a workday	1.5×
Over 12 hours in a workday	2×
First 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day in a workweek	1.5×
Over 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day	2×
Over 40 hours in a workweek	1.5×

The practical payroll rule is that California daily and weekly overtime do not simply stack on the same hour. You generally pay the overtime premium that applies to the hour without counting the same hour twice.

California also has a higher exempt salary threshold than federal law. As of January 1, 2026, most California white-collar exempt employees must earn at least $70,304 per year, based on 2× the statewide minimum wage for full-time employment, and still pass the duties test. California DIR announced the 2026 threshold when it announced the $16.90 statewide minimum wage.

Alaska

Alaska generally requires overtime after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. It also has a voluntary flexible work-hour plan that can allow up to 10 hours in a day without daily overtime if the plan is properly adopted and filed.

Nevada

Nevada has a wage-conditional daily overtime rule. Daily overtime after 8 hours applies to employees paid less than 1.5× the state minimum wage. At a $12.00 minimum wage, that cutoff is $18.00/hour. Employees at or above the cutoff are generally on the weekly 40-hour rule.

Colorado

Colorado requires overtime after 40 hours in a workweek, 12 hours in a workday, or 12 consecutive hours, whichever gives the employee more overtime pay.

Kentucky

Kentucky has a 7th-day premium rule for employees who work seven days in one workweek. The important qualifier is that the 7th-day rule does not apply if the employee was not permitted to work more than 40 hours during that workweek.

Industry-Specific Or Narrow State Rules

Some state differences matter only for a specific industry, occupation, or workforce:

State	Narrow rule to check
Oregon	Manufacturing and canneries daily overtime; agricultural overtime phase-in
Connecticut	Hotel and restaurant 7th-day premium
Hawaii	Public works construction daily overtime
Missouri	Public works construction daily overtime
North Dakota	Oilfield and construction daily overtime
Wisconsin	Minor workers daily overtime
Maryland	Agricultural weekly threshold
New York	Live-in domestic worker threshold and day-of-rest rules
Kansas and Minnesota	State weekly thresholds mainly relevant where FLSA coverage does not apply

If you are not in the covered industry or category, the general federal weekly rule may still be the rule that matters. The point is not that every state is complicated. The point is that the narrow rules need to be deliberately excluded, not accidentally ignored.

Try The Weekly Overtime Math

Try it on your state — daily OT, double-time, and 7th-consecutive-day premiums computed for a week's hours.

Try a scenario

California 5×10daily OT, no 7th dayCalifornia 7×87th-day premium stacksColorado 5×1312h daily thresholdFederal 50hweekly-only OT

Your inputs

State / jurisdiction

CaliforniaAlaskaNevadaColoradoKentuckyFederal (FLSA default)

Don't see your state? Oregon (manufacturing / canneries / seafood), Connecticut (hotel / restaurant), Hawaii (public works), North Dakota (oilfield / construction), Missouri (public works), Wisconsin (minors), and Maryland (agriculture) each have narrower rules, but they apply only in specific industries, occupations, or worker categories. Select "Federal" for the baseline calculation, then check the companion article for the industry-specific thresholds.

Hourly rate ($)

Workweek starts

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun

Enter hours in workweek order. If all 7 days have hours, the final day shown is treated as the 7th consecutive day for California and Kentucky.

Hours worked

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun

56.0 total hours across 7 days

Weekly pay — California

$1600.00total

40.0h regular · 16.0h at 1.5×

---

Pay breakdown

Regular pay (40.0h × $25.00)

$1000.00

Overtime 1.5× (16.0h × $37.50)

$600.00

---

Which rules applied

Weekly overtime over 40h (1.5×)

8.0h

7th-consecutive-day premium (1.5×)

8.0h

---

Rule for California

Daily 1.5x after 8h, double-time after 12h, plus a 7th-consecutive-day premium (1.5x first 8h, 2x after).

Is the worker actually non-exempt?This calculator assumes yes. Salaried "exempt" workers still owe overtime if they fail the duties test (real authority, independent judgment). Misclassification is often the biggest overtime liability driver because one wrong job classification can affect many employees across years of payroll. If unsure, the safe answer is non-exempt; see the companion article for the duties test.

Models daily + weekly overtime, double-time (California), and 7th-consecutive-day premiums (California, Kentucky). Industry-specific carve-outs (Oregon manufacturing, Connecticut hotel/restaurant work, Hawaii public works, etc.) aren't modeled. Exempt-status and blended-regular-rate calculations aren't modeled. Calculator assumes a flat hourly rate. Read the full methodology →

Use the calculator as a directional check for general state rules. It covers federal weekly overtime plus the general daily, double-time, and 7th-day rules for California, Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, and Kentucky. It does not decide whether a worker is exempt, whether Nevada's wage cutoff applies to a specific employee, or whether an industry-specific carve-out applies.

Exempt Employees: Salary Is Not Enough

An employee is exempt from federal overtime only when the exemption actually fits. For most white-collar exemptions, that means:

1. Salary basis: the employee is paid a predetermined salary that does not vary based on quality or quantity of work.
2. Salary threshold: the employee earns at least $684/week under the current federal rule.
3. Duties test: the employee's real work fits an executive, administrative, professional, computer, outside-sales, or highly compensated employee exemption.

The duties test is where small employers often get exposed. "Manager" is not enough if the person does not manage a department, direct at least two employees, and have real authority over hiring, firing, or similar decisions. "Administrative" is not enough if the person mostly follows set procedures and does not exercise independent judgment on significant business matters.

The Department of Labor's 2024 attempt to raise the federal salary threshold was vacated by a federal court in November 2024. On May 14, 2026, DOL announced a technical amendment restoring the 2019 regulations. For enforcement, DOL applies the 2019 federal thresholds: $684/week for the standard white-collar salary level and $107,432/year for highly compensated employees.

State thresholds can be higher. California is the big small-business example: $70,304/year in 2026 for most white-collar exemptions, plus the duties test.

Regular Rate: The Overtime Rate Is Not Always The Base Rate

If an employee earns one hourly rate and no extra pay, the regular rate is usually just that hourly rate. If pay is more complicated, the regular rate has to be computed.

Common items that can increase the regular rate:

• non-discretionary bonuses
• commissions
• shift differentials
• piece-rate earnings
• multiple hourly rates in the same workweek
• certain on-call or standby payments

Here is the simple version: if the payment was promised, earned under a policy, tied to productivity, tied to attendance, or part of the employee's normal compensation, do not assume it can be left out of overtime.

For a worker paid two rates in the same week, federal law generally uses a weighted average regular rate unless a valid prior agreement allows a different method. If Jen works 30 hours at $20 and 20 hours at $30, her straight-time earnings are $1,200 across 50 hours, so her regular rate is $24/hour. Her 10 overtime hours require an extra half-time premium of $120, for $1,320 total weekly pay. Our blended overtime calculator walks that math.

California adds one more trap: flat-sum bonuses can require a different divisor under Alvarado v. Dart Container, which can produce a higher overtime premium than the federal method.

For a deeper walkthrough of bonuses, multiple rates, and regular-rate math, read the overtime regular rate.

Private-Sector Comp Time Is Not A Substitute

Private employers generally cannot give "comp time" instead of overtime pay. If a non-exempt employee works overtime, pay the overtime on the payroll for that workweek.

Public-sector comp time has its own federal rules. That exception does not make informal private-sector comp time safe.

Multi-State And Remote Employees

Overtime usually follows where the employee performs the work, not where the business is headquartered.

That means:

• A Florida company with a California employee needs California overtime rules for that employee's California work.
• A worker who moves from Texas to Colorado may need Colorado daily overtime rules starting when the work moves.
• A multi-state employee may need work-location tracking if the employee performs work in more than one state.

This is where time tracking and payroll setup matter. The employee record needs a work state. The time record needs the workweek and hours. The pay record needs the rate components that feed the regular rate.

A Practical Overtime Checklist

Use this before you run payroll:

1. Is the worker non-exempt, or have you confirmed the exemption with both salary and duties?
2. What state did the employee work in?
3. What fixed workweek applies?
4. Did the employee cross 40 hours in the workweek?
5. Did the employee work in a daily-overtime state?
6. Did the employee work 7 consecutive days in a state with a 7th-day rule?
7. Did the employee earn a bonus, commission, shift differential, piece-rate pay, or multiple rates?
8. Did any industry-specific rule apply?
9. Does the payroll record show straight-time hours, overtime hours, rate, and premium pay clearly enough to defend later?

Frequently Asked Questions

The Practical Rule

Overtime compliance is not just "hours over 40." It is hours over 40, plus the employee's work state, plus exemption status, plus the pay items that belong in the regular rate.

For a single-state employer with hourly workers, one rate, and no bonuses, this can be straightforward. For employers with California workers, remote workers, salaried non-exempt employees, bonuses, commissions, or multiple rates, the safe move is to configure payroll around the stricter rule before the hours are worked.

When you are not sure, treat the employee as non-exempt until you have a reason not to. Overpaying a few overtime hours is usually smaller than rebuilding years of payroll after the fact.

Sources

• DOL Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements
• DOL Fact Sheet #17A: White-Collar Exemptions
• DOL technical amendment restoring 2019 overtime regulations, May 14, 2026
• 29 USC §207
• 29 CFR Part 778
• California DIR overtime FAQ
• California DIR 2026 minimum wage and exempt salary threshold
• Alaska Wage and Hour Act guidance
• Nevada NRS 608.018
• Colorado COMPS Order
• Kentucky KRS 337.050