Federal law only counts weekly hours. A few states also count daily hours:
- California: 1.5 times over 8 hours in a workday, double time over 12, plus seventh-day rules.
- Alaska: over 8 hours in a day, for employers with 4 or more employees.
- Nevada: over 8 hours in 24 hours, only for workers paid less than 1.5 times the state minimum wage.
- Colorado: over 12 hours in a workday or 12 consecutive hours.
Say you work four 10-hour days in California. That is 40 hours, so no weekly overtime, but you are owed 2 hours of daily overtime each day, 8 in all. You get whichever count is larger, not both.
Check your own paycheck
Enter your stub and your hours. The checker applies your state's rules and shows anything that is short, with the rule behind it. Nothing you type leaves your browser.