Federal overtime law thinks in weeks. California thinks in days, weeks, and consecutive days — and the difference is real money for anyone working long or irregular shifts.
The structure, from Labor Code §510: time-and-a-half after 8 hours in a workday and after 40 hours in a workweek, plus time-and-a-half for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of a workweek. Double time after 12 hours in a day, and after 8 hours on that seventh consecutive day. A worker who pulls a single 14-hour shift is owed 8 regular + 4 overtime + 2 double-time hours — even if the week totals under 40.
The recovery statute. Labor Code §1194 gives employees a private right to recover unpaid overtime and the full legal minimum notwithstanding any agreement to work for less — plus interest, attorney’s fees, and costs. “You agreed to straight time” is not a defense; overtime rights cannot be waived by contract. For minimum-wage shortfalls, §1194.2 adds liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages — doubling that portion of the claim.
The regular rate trap. Overtime is calculated on the “regular rate,” which includes nondiscretionary bonuses, commissions, and shift differentials — not just the base hourly figure. An employer paying time-and-a-half on base wages while ignoring a production bonus is underpaying every overtime hour. The DIR publishes the overtime rules and calculation methods in plain English.
Off-the-clock is still on the clock. Pre-shift security lines, post-shift closing duties, mandatory meetings, donning and doffing required gear, travel between job sites during the day — compensable. Timekeeping systems that auto-deduct meal periods a worker actually worked through are a recurring class-action generator for a reason.
Limitations math: three years for statutory wage claims (CCP §338), extendable to four via an unfair-competition claim under Business & Professions Code §17200. Reconstruct hours from schedules, texts, badge swipes, and your own contemporaneous notes — where the employer’s records are inadequate, the law resolves reasonable doubt in the worker’s favor.
Every letter, form, and deadline referenced above is packaged in the free kits at JusticePrompt.com. No credit card, no upsell — the documents and the law, ready to use.
The Hedge 