For almost all nonexempt private sector California employees who are not covered by collective bargaining agreements, overtime pay is based both on the number of hours worked in a workday and the number of hours worked in a workweek.
Only hours worked at straight time apply to the weekly 40-hour limit. This prevents "pyramiding" of overtime, where an employee earns overtime on top of overtime already paid. Once an employee has been paid overtime for over eight hours in a day, those overtime hours do not count toward the weekly 40-hour limit.
Employers should be aware that different overtime rules apply to agricultural laborers.
Read about Overtime Exceptions for Specific Industries in the HR Library.