California overtime rules for trades (2026)

If you run a trades business in California, federal FLSA isn't your problem — the California Labor Code is. Daily OT, weekly OT, double-time, and the 7th-day rule are all enforceable, and the penalties are real.

California protects hourly workers more aggressively than any other state. If you run a 5–25 person trades business in CA, federal Fair Labor Standards Act rules are the floor — California Labor Code sits on top. Get the math wrong and the back wages plus penalties stack quickly.

The four overtime triggers

In California, an hourly employee earns time-and-a-half (1.5×) OR double-time (2×) when any of these are true:

1. Worked more than 8 hours in a day — 1.5× starts at hour 9
2. Worked more than 40 hours in a week — 1.5× for hours past 40
3. Worked more than 12 hours in a day — 2× starts at hour 13
4. Worked the 7th consecutive day in a workweek — 1.5× for first 8 hours, 2× after that

Worked examples

Example 1: long day

Carlos works 10 hours on Monday — a single shift, no other work that week.

• Hours 1–8: regular pay
• Hours 9–10: 1.5× (daily OT)

Example 2: very long day

Carlos works 14 hours on Saturday.

• Hours 1–8: regular pay
• Hours 9–12: 1.5×
• Hours 13–14: 2× (daily double-time)

Example 3: long week

Carlos works 5 days of 9 hours each = 45 total hours, no day over 12.

• Daily OT: 1 hour × 5 days = 5 hours at 1.5×
• Weekly OT: 45 total minus 5 already-counted-as-OT = 40 regular-hour equivalents, so weekly OT triggers but the hours are already counted as daily OT. No double counting.

Example 4: 7th consecutive day

Carlos works Monday through Sunday — 7 consecutive days in one workweek — 8 hours each day.

• Mon–Sat: regular pay for hours 1–8 each day (48 hours regular)
• Sun (7th day): 1.5× for first 8 hours, 2× if he goes past 8 on that day

What's a "workweek"?

A workweek is a fixed, 7-day period you designate. Most trades use Monday-to-Sunday or Sunday-to-Saturday. Pick one and document it in writing — once set, it can't shift around to avoid OT.

Meal and rest periods

Separate from OT but worth noting because the penalty is steep:

• Meal period: 30-minute unpaid break for any shift over 5 hours. Must start before the 6th hour.
• Rest period: 10-minute paid break for every 4 hours worked (or major fraction). Must be in the middle of each 4-hour block.
• Penalty for missing one: 1 hour of premium pay (at regular rate) per day, per missed meal or rest period. A skipped lunch can cost you 1 hour of wages.

Final pay rules (and the waiting-time penalty)

When an employee quits or is fired:

• Fired: all wages including accrued vacation due immediately on the last day.
• Quit (with 72+ hour notice): wages due on the last day.
• Quit (no notice): wages due within 72 hours.

Waiting-time penalty: if you're late, the employee gets their daily wage for every day late, up to 30 days. Owe Carlos $400/day? Pay him 10 days late = $4,000 penalty on top of what you owed.

What this means for your time-tracking

In California, you can't reconstruct hours from memory and stay compliant. You need:

1. Time-stamped clock-in/clock-out for every shift (not rounded to the nearest 15 minutes — California auditors will reject that)
2. Meal-period start/end captured
3. Daily totals + weekly totals + double-time totals computed correctly
4. Records kept for 4 years (CA Labor Code §1174)

Where Clox handles this

Clox calculates daily/weekly OT, double-time, and 7th-day rules automatically when you configure your overtime rules in Settings. Set the daily OT threshold to 8, weekly to 40, daily-DT to 12, and enable 7th-day. Every export is California-rule-compliant out of the box.