Does Working Weekends Count Towards Overtime?

In the 21st century, in a shifting economic landscape, many employees do not work standard five-day workweeks. In fact, many employees do not work standard eight-hour workdays, leaving many employees unwilling or ignorant of how to keep track of overtime. According to California law, however, non-standard hours and workdays still deserve overtime pay.

Workers may believe that overtime only applies to single days where they worked longer than eight hours. However, California overtime law pertains not only to the hours worked in a single day, but the total hours and the consecutive days worked in a week as well. Any one of these conditions meets the requirement for overtime pay entitlement.


Overtime rates apply in situations where employees work:

  • In excess of eight hours in a day
  • In excess of 40 hours in a week
  • In excess of six consecutive days

For workers who abide by eight-hour workdays, the sixth consecutive day of work would automatically call for the overtime rate. Any hours in excess of 40 in a 7-day period must be paid at one-and-a-half-times the regular rate of pay. However, limiting hours and spreading them out throughout the week still does not exempt your employer from pay you overtime wages.

The Seventh-Day Rule

In this case, working weekends may call for overtime pay, even if the employee works less than 40 hours for the week and less than 8 hours that day. California labor laws stipulate that workers must receive one-and-a-half-times their regular rate of pay up to the first 8 hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work. If your job spreads your hours over the course of the week, you are entitled to overtime pay if you do not receive your one-day break during a seven-day period.

So, as you work weekends, keep in mind your rights as an employee. Even as a part-time worker, you are entitled to overtime wages—do not let your employer take advantage of you by making you work seven consecutive days without overtime pay or wages that you are owed.

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If your employer is not paying you your rightful wages, contact Attorney Alan Burton Newman. Our employment law practice has spent over 30 years helping California employees recover back pay, overtime wages, and more. We have recovered millions for our clients, typically within 90 days and entirely over the phone or email. Contact our Harvard-educated Los Angeles wage-and-hour attorney!

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