Overtime laws by state: weekly, daily and the exempt salary level
Federal law requires overtime at one and a half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek. A few states add daily overtime, double time or a seventh-day rule, and some set a higher salary level before a salaried employee can be treated as exempt.
Contents6 sections
Key takeaways
- Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, covered non-exempt employees earn 1.5 times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek.1
- 4 states require overtime after a set number of hours in a single day.
- The federal salary level for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions is $684 a week ($35,568 a year).2
- 6 states set a higher salary level for exempt staff, most of them tied to the state minimum wage.
Quick facts
| Federal overtime | 1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours a week |
|---|---|
| Workweek | A fixed, recurring period of 168 hours (seven 24-hour days) |
| Federal exempt salary | $684 a week, $35,568 a year |
| Daily overtime | {{n:daily-ot}} states |
The federal rule: 40 hours in a workweek
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay covered, non-exempt employees at least one and a half times their regular rate of pay for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek.1 The law sets no limit on the hours an adult may work, and it does not require overtime for work on weekends, holidays or regular days off unless the 40-hour total is passed.1
A workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven consecutive 24-hour periods, which the employer chooses and need not run Sunday to Saturday.1 Each workweek stands alone: hours cannot be averaged over two or more weeks, so 30 hours one week and 50 the next means 10 hours of overtime, even though the two weeks average 40.1
The regular rate includes most pay for the work, such as shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses, not only the hourly wage.1 At the federal minimum wage of $7.25, an overtime hour pays at least $10.875; at a state or local minimum wage, the overtime rate is one and a half times that higher rate.
What states add
Most states repeat the federal 40-hour rule in their own law, which matters for employers and jobs that federal law does not reach. A few go further. Some require overtime after a set number of hours in a workday, whatever the weekly total; California also requires double time for very long days and has a rule for the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek. A handful of states have no overtime law of their own, so only the federal rule applies there, and only to employers and employees that federal law covers.3
California has the most protective rules: overtime after 8 hours in a workday, double time after 12 hours, and on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, time and a half for the first 8 hours and double time after that.5 Nevada’s daily overtime after 8 hours applies only to employees paid less than one and a half times the state minimum wage.8 Two states set a weekly threshold above 40 hours for jobs that federal law does not cover: 46 hours in Kansas6 and 48 hours in Minnesota.7 Employees covered by the federal law in those states are still owed overtime after 40 hours.
When federal and state rules differ, the employee is owed whichever gives the higher pay for the week. The table shows the rule in each state; the overtime section of each state page has the details, the exceptions and the official source.
| State | Weekly | Daily | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Alaska | After 40 hours | After 8 hours | – |
| Arizona | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Arkansas | After 40 hours | – | – |
| California | After 40 hours | After 8 hours | After 12 hours in a workday, and after 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek; Time and a half for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek; double time after 8 hours |
| Colorado | After 40 hours | After 12 hours | – |
| Connecticut | After 40 hours | – | Restaurants and hotel restaurants: time and a half the minimum rate for the seventh consecutive day of work |
| Delaware | Federal rule only | – | – |
| District of Columbia | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Florida | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Georgia | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Hawaii | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Idaho | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Illinois | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Indiana | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Iowa | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Kansas | After 46 hours | – | – |
| Kentucky | After 40 hours | – | Time and a half for hours worked on the seventh day when the employee works all seven days of the workweek |
| Louisiana | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Maine | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Maryland | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Massachusetts | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Michigan | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Minnesota | After 48 hours | – | – |
| Mississippi | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Missouri | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Montana | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Nebraska | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Nevada | After 40 hours | After 8 hours* | – |
| New Hampshire | After 40 hours | – | – |
| New Jersey | After 40 hours | – | – |
| New Mexico | After 40 hours | – | – |
| New York | After 40 hours | – | – |
| North Carolina | After 40 hours | – | – |
| North Dakota | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Ohio | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Oklahoma | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Oregon | After 40 hours | Some industries* | – |
| Pennsylvania | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Rhode Island | After 40 hours | – | – |
| South Carolina | Federal rule only | – | – |
| South Dakota | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Tennessee | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Texas | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Utah | Federal rule only | – | – |
| Vermont | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Virginia | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Washington | After 40 hours | – | – |
| West Virginia | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Wisconsin | After 40 hours | – | – |
| Wyoming | Federal rule only | – | – |
An asterisk marks a daily rule that applies only to some employees or industries; the state page explains who is covered.
Salaried employees and the exempt salary level
Paying someone a salary does not by itself remove the right to overtime. Under federal rules, an executive, administrative or professional employee is exempt only if the job meets the duties test for the exemption and the employee is paid on a salary basis of at least $684 a week, or $35,568 a year.2 Some professionals, such as teachers, doctors and lawyers, are exempt from the salary requirement, and highly compensated employees are covered by a separate test.2
The Department of Labor’s 2024 rule that would have raised the salary level was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on November 15, 2024, and the Department enforces the $684 level and the $107,432 level for highly compensated employees.4
Several states set their own, higher salary level, most often a multiple of the state minimum wage, so it rises each time the minimum wage does. An employer in those states must meet the higher figure as well as the duties test.
| State | Weekly | Yearly | Next |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $1,541.70 | $80,168.40 | $92,196 (January 1, 2027) |
| California | $1,352 | $70,304 | $72,384 (January 1, 2027) |
| New York | $1,275 | $66,300 | – |
| Alaska | $1,120 | $58,240 | $62,400 (July 1, 2027) |
| Colorado | $1,111.23 | $57,784 | – |
| Maine | $871.16 | $45,300.32 | $47,101.08 (January 1, 2027) |
Who is not covered
The federal overtime rule has exemptions beyond salaried managers and professionals, including some agricultural workers, certain commissioned employees of retail and service businesses, and some transportation workers.1 State laws have their own lists of exemptions, which do not always match the federal ones; each state page names the main ones.
Employees who think they are owed overtime can file a claim with the state labor department listed on their state page or with the federal Wage and Hour Division.
Sources
- 1
- 2
- 3 U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws Checked Oct 28, 2026 · Back to text ↑
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7 Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minn. Stat. 177.25, Overtime Checked Oct 28, 2026 · Back to text ↑
- 8 Nevada Legislature, NRS 608.018, Compensation for overtime Checked Oct 28, 2026 · Back to text ↑
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