Overtime rules by state
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets the floor for the whole country: 1.5 times the regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek, where a workweek is any fixed run of seven consecutive 24-hour periods. There is no federal daily overtime. A handful of states add a daily trigger on top of that floor, and when two rules both apply, the employee gets whichever produces more pay. Puerto Rico and the other US territories are outside the scope of this table.
| State | Daily overtime? | Weekly threshold | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Alaska | Yes | 40 hours (FLSA) | 1.5x over 8 hours in a day; exemptions apply to some small employers, verify with state labor department |
| Arizona | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Arkansas | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| California | Yes | 40 hours (FLSA) | 1.5x over 8 hours a day and 2x over 12; on the 7th consecutive day, 1.5x for the first 8 hours then 2x |
| Colorado | Yes | 40 hours (FLSA) | 1.5x over 12 hours in a workday or 12 consecutive hours; covered industries only, verify with state labor department |
| Connecticut | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Delaware | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| District of Columbia | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Florida | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Georgia | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Hawaii | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Idaho | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Illinois | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Indiana | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Iowa | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Kansas | No | 46 hours for employers outside FLSA coverage | FLSA employers still use 40 hours; the 46-hour threshold applies only where the FLSA does not |
| Kentucky | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | 1.5x for the 7th day worked in a workweek, verify with state labor department |
| Louisiana | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Maine | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Maryland | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Massachusetts | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Michigan | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Minnesota | No | 48 hours for employers outside FLSA coverage | FLSA employers still use 40 hours; the 48-hour threshold applies only where the FLSA does not |
| Mississippi | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Missouri | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Montana | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Nebraska | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Nevada | Yes | 40 hours (FLSA) | 1.5x over 8 hours in a 24-hour period when the hourly rate is under 1.5x the state minimum wage |
| New Hampshire | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| New Jersey | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| New Mexico | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| New York | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| North Carolina | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| North Dakota | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Ohio | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Oklahoma | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Oregon | Limited | 40 hours (FLSA) | Manufacturing establishments pay 1.5x over 10 hours in a day; canneries and mills have separate rules, verify with state labor department |
| Pennsylvania | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Rhode Island | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| South Carolina | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| South Dakota | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Tennessee | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Texas | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Utah | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Vermont | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Virginia | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Washington | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | No daily overtime requirement; the weekly 40-hour rule applies |
| West Virginia | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Wisconsin | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
| Wyoming | No | 40 hours (FLSA) | Follows federal rule |
How daily and weekly rules interact
In a state with only the federal rule, the week is a single bucket. You add every hour worked between the start and end of the workweek, pay straight time on the first 40 and a premium on the rest. A 12-hour Monday followed by four 7-hour days totals 40 and produces no overtime at all, even though Monday was long.
In a daily overtime state the same week costs more, because the long day is priced when it happens. The general order is to settle the daily premiums first, then test what is left against the weekly threshold. Hours already paid at a premium are not counted twice.
Work a California week of 10, 10, 10, 10 and 6 hours and the total is 46. Each of the four ten-hour days produces 2 hours over the 8-hour line, so 8 hours are daily overtime and 38 hours stay at the regular rate. Because those 38 regular hours never cross 40, the weekly rule adds nothing. At $20 an hour, that is 38 times $20 for $760 plus 8 times $30 for $240, a gross of $1,000. The identical schedule in a federal-only state pays 40 hours at $20 for $800 plus 6 hours at $30 for $180, a gross of $980. Same clock, twenty dollars apart.
The overtime calculator handles either order and shows regular pay and premium pay as separate lines, and the California overtime calculator adds the double-time and seventh-day layers that make that state its own case.
What this table cannot tell you
Four things sit outside a state-by-state grid, and every one of them changes the answer.
- Exempt status. Overtime rules only reach non-exempt employees. Whether a salaried role is exempt turns on duties and on a salary threshold that changes over time, not on the job title printed on an offer letter.
- City and county ordinances. Some local governments set their own scheduling, premium pay and predictability rules that sit above the state rule. A statewide row will not show them.
- Industry carve-outs. Agriculture, hospitals, residential care, transportation, canneries and public safety all carry special computations in one state or another, sometimes with longer thresholds rather than shorter ones.
- Union contracts. A collective bargaining agreement can promise overtime earlier than the law requires. The contract governs when it is more generous.
Any row above marked "verify with state labor department" means the nuance is real but narrow enough that the details depend on employer size, industry or coverage. Read it as a prompt to check, not as a settled answer for your situation. Whatever rule applies, the underlying record still has to be accurate to the minute, which is what the timesheet calculator is for.
Frequently asked questions
Which states have daily overtime?
California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado are the clear cases, each with a different trigger: 8 hours in California and Alaska, 8 hours in Nevada only for lower-paid workers, and 12 hours in Colorado. Oregon adds a daily rule for manufacturing rather than for every employer.
If my state rule and the federal rule disagree, which one wins?
Neither overrides the other. The employer has to satisfy both, which in practice means paying whichever calculation gives the employee more for that workweek.
Can my employer change when the workweek starts?
The workweek can be set to begin on any day and at any hour, and it can be changed, but it has to stay fixed and recurring rather than moving around to avoid overtime in a particular week.
Does working a holiday or a weekend earn overtime automatically?
Not under federal law. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are ordinary workdays for overtime purposes. Premium pay for them comes from company policy or a contract, though Kentucky's seventh-day provision is one state exception worth checking.
Do paid holidays and sick days count toward 40?
Under the federal rule, no. Only hours actually worked count toward the threshold. A week of 36 worked hours plus 8 hours of holiday pay is 44 hours on the check but 36 hours for the overtime test.
Is comp time instead of overtime pay allowed?
In the private sector, generally no. Public agencies have a narrow allowance for compensatory time under specific conditions. A private employer usually owes the premium in cash for the week it was earned.
What if I am paid a salary but work 50 hours?
Being on salary is not the same as being exempt. If the duties and salary level do not meet an exemption, the employee is non-exempt and overtime is owed, with the regular rate derived from the salary.
Last reviewed: September 2026. State rules change, and this page summarizes them rather than reproducing the statutes.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your situation with your state labor department or an employment attorney before relying on it.