California Overtime Calculator

To calculate your overtime, you just need to multiply your regular hourly rate by 1.5. You get this special rate for every hour you work beyond 40 hours in a single workweek. Let's look at a quick example. If you normally make $20 an hour and work 45 hours in a week, you get your regular pay for 40 hours. For those extra 5 hours, you get paid $30 an hour. That is because $20 multiplied by 1.5 equals $30. Figuring this out manually can get tricky, so our calculator does it all automatically for you. Just plug in your numbers and it will handle the math.

Calculating your OT rate is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is multiply your normal hourly pay rate by 1.5. For example, if you normally earn $25 per hour, your overtime rate becomes $37.50 per hour. It really is that simple for most situations. Keep in mind that some states have special rules. In California, for instance, any hours worked beyond 12 hours in a single day are paid at double time. That means you get 2 times your regular rate instead of 1.5. You can use our calculator to easily figure out your exact overtime rate, no matter where you live.

There are some important updates for 2026 regarding the Department of Labor salary threshold for exempt employees. The federal salary threshold has been restored to $684 per week. Because of this change, more salaried workers may now qualify for overtime pay than before. If your salary falls below this specific threshold, your employer must pay you for any overtime hours you work, regardless of what your job title is. Staying on top of these changes can be confusing, but do not worry. Our calculator is fully updated for 2026, so you can trust it is using the most current rules.

The newest overtime rules mainly involve the increased salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. This means a larger number of salaried workers are now eligible for overtime pay. Beyond the federal changes, several states have updated their own specific rules. States like California, Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado have their own daily overtime regulations that go beyond the basic federal rules. For example, Colorado's COMPS Order #40 took effect in February 2026, and New York farm workers saw their overtime threshold drop to 52 hours in 2026. Our calculator automatically applies all these latest federal and state rules.

We truly believe our calculator is the best option out there for handling payroll. What makes it great is that it accurately covers the specific rules for all 50 states. It easily handles California's daily and double time rules, Alaska's daily and weekly calculations, Colorado's greater-of rule, and Nevada's rate-based threshold. It does not just stop at 40 hours a week. It gives you instant, accurate breakdowns of your regular pay, overtime, and double time. Whether you are an employee checking your paycheck or a manager running payroll, it gives you exactly the numbers you need without any hassle.

To be completely clear, there is no federal law exempting overtime from taxes in the United States as of 2026. All of your overtime pay is taxed as regular income, just like your standard wages. While there have been some political proposals discussed about making overtime tax-free, none of them have actually been signed into law. Any overtime you earn is fully subject to standard income and payroll taxes. Our calculator is designed to show your gross pay before taxes are taken out. You will still need to account for your standard tax deductions when estimating your actual take-home pay.

Under current federal law in 2026, zero overtime is tax-free. Every dollar of overtime you earn is taxed as ordinary income. While you might have heard about political proposals to make overtime pay tax-exempt, those are just ideas and have not been enacted into law. Our calculator shows your total gross earnings, which means the amount before any taxes are deducted. If you want to figure out your final take-home pay, you will need to subtract your specific tax withholding from the gross amount our calculator provides. There are no special tax loopholes for overtime pay right now.

Your overtime pay is taxed at your exact same regular income tax rate. It is definitely not taxed at a higher rate, even though it might feel that way sometimes. What often happens is that a bigger paycheck might trigger higher tax withholding for that specific pay period. For instance, if you earn a lot of overtime one week, your employer's payroll system might withhold a slightly higher percentage. However, this all evens out when you file your taxes at the end of the year. You only owe taxes based on your total annual income bracket, not a special overtime rate.

Because it pays at 1.5 times your normal rate, overtime almost always pays quite well and is usually worth it. Let's look at a quick example. If you work 10 overtime hours at a regular rate of $25 an hour, you will earn an extra $375. While you might see a slightly higher tax withholding on that specific paycheck because it is larger, that is only temporary. It all evens out at tax time based on your total yearly income. You can use our calculator to see the exact numbers and decide for yourself if the extra hours make sense for you.

To calculate overtime on a salary, you first need to convert your annual salary into an hourly rate. You can do this by dividing your annual salary by 52 weeks, and then dividing that number by 40 hours. For example, if you make $52,000 a year, you divide that by 52 and then by 40, which gives you $25 an hour. Once you have that base rate, you simply multiply your overtime hours by that rate times 1.5. To make things incredibly easy, just enter your calculated hourly rate into our calculator and let it do the rest.

Yes, it is absolutely possible. Many salaried workers fully qualify for overtime pay. To be exempt from overtime, you must meet both the minimum salary threshold and specific job duty tests. These tests generally apply to executive, administrative, or professional roles. If you do not meet both the salary level and the specific duty requirements, your employer is legally required to pay you overtime for any hours worked over 40 in a week. The salary threshold has been updated for 2026, so it is a great time to double-check your status if you regularly work long hours.

If you get paid a monthly salary, you will first need to find your hourly rate. You can do this by dividing your monthly salary by 173.33. We use 173.33 because 40 hours a week times 52 weeks divided by 12 months equals 173.33 hours per month. For example, if your monthly salary is $5,000, dividing it by 173.33 gives you a regular rate of $28.85 an hour. Your overtime rate would then be $43.27 an hour. You can take that regular hourly rate and plug it right into our calculator to figure out your total pay.

Calculating your total pay with overtime is a simple step-by-step process. First, count your regular hours up to 40. Next, count your overtime hours. Then, multiply your regular hours by your standard rate, and your overtime hours by your overtime rate. Finally, add those two numbers together. For example, if you work 45 hours at $20 an hour, you multiply 40 by $20, and 5 by $30. That gives you $800 plus $150, for a total of $950. Our calculator does all of this math for you instantly, so you never have to worry about making a mistake.

In the United States, there is no federal cap on the number of overtime hours an adult can work. The Fair Labor Standards Act just requires that employers pay proper compensation, which is 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours in a week. Employers are completely allowed to mandate overtime, but they must pay you for it. Keep in mind that some specific industries, like trucking or healthcare, do have their own strict limits on hours for safety reasons. But generally speaking, as long as you are getting paid correctly, there is no legal limit on the hours.