“I worked 40 hours, so there is no overtime” is true under the FLSA. It is false in California on a compressed week. Four 10-hour days are 40 hours on the timesheet. Federal law sees no hour over 40. California still sees 2 hours past 8 on each of those four days.
At $20/hour:
- FLSA: 40 × $20 = $800 (overtime $0)
- California: 32 × $20 + 8 × $30 = $880
That $80 is daily overtime, not a tax. It is a different week than the four 12-hour days already covered in California overtime vs FLSA ($1,120 vs $1,040).
California overtime calculator → · Federal FLSA calculator →
More United States paycheck, FICA, 401(k) and tax tools live on the United States calculators hub.
Both tools stop at weekly gross. They do not withhold FIT or FICA. Other states can also exceed the federal weekly-40 floor (the FLSA page lists Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado as examples). This site only computes FLSA and California. Estimate, not legal advice.
Direct answer: 4 × 10 at $20 → $880 vs $800
- Hours = 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40
- FLSA overtime hours = max(0, 40 − 40) = 0 → weekly $800
- California: each day, first 8 at 1×, hours 8–10 at 1.5×
- Straight hours = 32 × $20 = $640
- 1.5× hours = 8 × $30 = $240
- California weekly = $880
FLSA: overtime hours = max(0, hours in the workweek − 40)
CA § 510: each day, hours after 8 at 1.5× (after 12 at 2×); weekly 40 only if those hours were not already daily OT
Weeks that look “only 40”
| Days | Hours | FLSA | California | Why they differ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 × 8 | 40 | $800 | $800 | No hour past 8 or past 40 |
| 4 × 10 | 40 | $800 | $880 | 8 daily OT hours, week still 40 |
| 4 × 12 | 48 | $1,040 | $1,120 | Daily OT plus hours over 40 |
| 5 × 10 | 50 | $1,100 | $1,100 | 10 hours over 40; both pay the same dollars |
Five 10-hour days already appear in the 4×12 guide. Both statutes pay $1,100. The quirk people miss is the 40-hour compressed week.
Federal weekly-40 explainer: FLSA overtime. Overtime dollars are still wages: FICA and paycheck take-home.
What this is not
- Not a 50-state overtime farm. No Alaska, Nevada, or Colorado engine.
- Not double time. Four 10-hour days never cross 12.
- Not exempt-employee classification.
Because § 510 looks at each day. Four 10-hour days create 8 hours at 1.5× even though the week is 40.
$800. Overtime hours = 0.
No. Four twelves are 48 hours: CA $1,120, FLSA $1,040. That write-up is already live.