Overtime Pay by State: Which States Require More Than the Federal 40-Hour Rule

Overtime pay sounds simple — work more than 40 hours, get time-and-a-half. And in most of America, that’s exactly how it works. But six states decided the federal rule wasn’t enough, and if you work in one of them, your paycheck follows different math.

The differences aren’t small either. In California, a 12-hour shift doesn’t just earn you overtime — the last four hours pay double. In Alaska, you start earning overtime after 8 hours in a single day, even if you only work three days that week. These rules change what “a long day” is actually worth.

The federal baseline everyone starts from

The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the national floor: non-exempt employees earn 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. That’s it — no daily threshold, no double time, no seventh-day bonus. The workweek is a fixed 7-day period, and hours don’t average across weeks.

Forty-four states plus D.C. add nothing on top of this. If your state isn’t one of the six below, the federal rule is your whole story.

The six states that go further

California has the most generous overtime law in the country, and it’s not close. Daily overtime kicks in after 8 hours (1.5x), double time after 12 hours in a single day, and the seventh consecutive day of work triggers overtime for the first 8 hours plus double time beyond that. No other state has double-time rules at all.

Alaska requires daily overtime after 8 hours — same daily trigger as California, but without the double-time tier. Daily and weekly thresholds run side by side, so hours already paid as daily overtime aren’t double-counted toward the 40-hour weekly total.

Nevada has a daily overtime rule with a twist: it only applies to workers earning less than $18 per hour (1.5x the state minimum wage). Above that threshold, only the federal weekly rule applies. The $18 figure moves with the minimum wage.

Colorado sets the daily bar higher — overtime after 12 hours in a day or 12 consecutive hours, plus the standard 40-hour weekly rule. It’s the most modest of the daily-overtime states.

Oregon limits its daily rule to manufacturing: 1.5x after 10 hours per day in manufacturing establishments. Everyone else in Oregon follows the federal weekly standard.

Kentucky is the outlier — no daily rule, but overtime kicks in on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, regardless of total hours. Work six days, no state overtime. Work seven, the seventh day pays 1.5x.

Two states where the state rule is weaker

Kansas sets its weekly threshold at 46 hours and Minnesota at 48 — both higher than the federal 40. This doesn’t mean workers in those states get less overtime. Federal law overrides weaker state rules for covered employees, so the 40-hour federal standard still controls. The state numbers only matter for the narrow set of workers covered by state law but exempt from the FLSA.

What this means for your paycheck

Take a concrete example. You earn $20/hour and work four 10-hour days — 40 hours total.

In Texas (federal rule only), that’s 40 straight-time hours: $800. No overtime, because you never crossed 40 in the week.

In California, those same four days earn 8 hours of daily overtime (2 hours x 4 days at $30/hr): $880. Same hours, $80 more — because California counts the day, not just the week.

In Alaska, the math matches California’s here: 8 daily overtime hours at time-and-a-half, $880 total.

Now stretch it: a single 14-hour day in California. That’s 8 hours at $20 ($160), 4 hours at time-and-a-half ($120), and 2 hours at double time ($80) — $360 total, or $80 above the $280 straight-time base. Under the federal rule alone, a single 14-hour day earns no overtime at all if the week stays under 40 hours — daily overtime doesn’t exist in federal law.

Who’s exempt from all of this

None of these rules — federal or state — apply to everyone. The FLSA exempts executive, administrative, professional, and outside-sales employees (the “white-collar” exemptions), plus certain computer workers, all subject to salary thresholds. As of 2026, the federal salary threshold for exemption is $684/week ($35,568/year). The Department of Labor formally rescinded its 2024 rule (which would have raised the threshold) on May 15, 2026, reinstating the 2019 levels — so this figure is settled for now.

States can set stricter exemption standards too. California’s salary threshold for exempt employees is roughly double the federal level (tied to 2x the state minimum wage for full-time work), which means workers who’d be exempt under federal law may still earn overtime in California.

Frequently asked questions

Does my employer have to pay daily overtime if my state doesn’t require it?
No — unless your employment contract, union agreement, or company policy promises it. In 45 jurisdictions, only the 40-hour weekly rule is legally required.

Can my boss just schedule me 39 hours to avoid overtime?
Yes, that’s legal. Overtime law sets the price of extra hours; it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get them. But cutting hours to dodge overtime you’ve already earned — like shaving time off your timesheet — is wage theft.

Do salaried workers get overtime?
Being salaried doesn’t automatically make you exempt. If you don’t meet both the salary threshold and the duties test for an exemption, you’re entitled to overtime regardless of how you’re paid. Misclassification is one of the most common wage violations the DOL investigates.

What if I work in two states in the same week?
Generally, the law of the state where the work was performed applies to those hours. If you work 30 hours in Nevada and 15 in California, California’s daily rules apply to the California hours. Multi-state workers should track hours by location.

Has any state changed its overtime rule recently?
Yes. New York lowered its farmworker overtime threshold from 56 to 52 hours on January 1, 2026, and Colorado enacted a 56-hour agricultural threshold effective January 2027. No state changed its general (non-agricultural) overtime rule in 2026.

For the full state-by-state breakdown with statutes and official sources, see our overtime rules by state table — all 50 states and D.C., verified against the U.S. Department of Labor and state labor departments.