What a California overtime timesheet is for
California has the most detailed overtime and break rules in the country. Overtime is owed by the day as well as by the week, double time starts at 12 hours, the seventh consecutive day has its own rule, and a missed, late or short meal period or a missing rest break costs the employer an extra hour of pay. Most timesheet templates only total weekly hours and multiply anything over 40 by 1.5, which underpays California employees and leaves the employer exposed to wage claims and penalties.
This workbook is built for California. For each day it calculates hours worked, regular hours, overtime and double time under Labor Code section 510, checks both meal periods against section 512, counts the rest breaks required, and flags each premium owed. The weekly overtime rule is applied without counting daily overtime twice, the seventh-day rule switches on only when all seven days are worked, and the regular rate includes any flat-sum bonus before overtime and premiums are priced. Two week sheets feed a pay period summary, a completed example shows every rule at work, and the printable version gives employees a paper timesheet with a certification.
When to use it
Use it for hourly, non-exempt employees in California on a standard workweek: retail, restaurant, construction, landscaping, warehouse, office and household employees who are paid by the hour. Employers can use it as their time record or to check what payroll software produced, and employees can use it to keep their own record of hours, which the Labor Code allows.
Do not use it for exempt employees, for employees on an adopted alternative workweek schedule, or for industries whose wage orders have different overtime rules, such as health care, agriculture and the motion picture industry. Commission, piece-rate and multiple-rate employees need a regular rate calculation that this sheet does not perform.
What's inside
The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.
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Week 1 and Week 2 sheets
- Employer and employee
- Workweek start
- Hourly rate
- Minimum wage check
- Flat-sum bonus
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Daily record
- Start and end of work
- First and second meal periods
- Meal waivers
- Rest breaks permitted
- Hours worked
- Overnight shifts
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Automatic calculations
- Regular hours
- Daily overtime over 8
- Double time over 12
- Seventh consecutive day
- Weekly overtime over 40
- Meal premium
- Rest breaks required
- Rest premium
- Problem flags
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Pay for the workweek
- Regular rate with bonus
- Regular pay
- Overtime pay
- Double-time pay
- Premiums
- Gross pay
- Hours check
- Certification and approval
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Pay Period and Example sheets
- Two-week totals
- Completed fictional week using every rule
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Printable timesheet and rules guide
- Paper daily record
- Payroll calculation table
- Certification
- Rules summary
- Worked example
Preview pages
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Page 1 -
Page 2 -
Page 3
How to fill it in
- Set up Week 1. Enter the employer, employee, the first day of the fixed workweek, the hourly rate and the minimum wage that applies.
- Check the rate. The sheet flags a rate below the minimum you entered; use the highest state, local or industry rate that applies.
- Record each day's times. Enter the actual start and end of work and of each meal period, using times like 8:30 AM.
- Mark valid meal waivers only. Enter Y only where a mutual waiver applies and the day is short enough for it to be valid.
- Enter rest breaks. Record how many 10-minute rest periods were authorized and permitted.
- Add any flat-sum bonus. Enter non-discretionary bonuses earned in the week so the regular rate is right.
- Review the flags. Red cells show a meal or rest premium owed or times that need checking.
- Sign and approve. Have the employee certify the record and the supervisor approve it.
- Use the Pay Period sheet. Copy the totals into payroll and keep the workbook for at least three years.
Example: a week that uses every rule
The workbook's Example sheet follows a fictional landscape crew member paid $24.00 an hour, with a $100 attendance bonus, who works all seven days of the workweek starting Sunday, March 1, 2026:
Hours worked: 61.5 across seven days, including one 12-hour day with the second meal validly waived and a 6-hour day with the first meal waived. Regular hours: 40.0. On day 6 the week's regular hours reach 40, so 6 of that day's hours become weekly overtime. Overtime: 19.5 hours at 1.5 times. Double time: 2.0 hours, the hours over 8 on the seventh consecutive day. Premiums: one meal premium (day 4, meal started after the fifth hour) and one rest premium (day 5, one rest break for an 8-hour day). Regular rate: $24.00 + $100 ÷ 40 = $26.50. Gross pay: $1,994.13.
A timesheet that only applied the 40-hour rule would have paid 21.5 hours of overtime at $36.00, no double time and no premiums, and missed the bonus in the overtime rate.
California rules to know
These are the California rules the workbook applies.
- Overtime (Labor Code section 510). Over 8 hours a day or 40 a week, and the first 8 hours of the seventh consecutive day, at 1.5 times; over 12 hours a day and over 8 on the seventh day at 2 times.
- Meal periods (section 512). 30 minutes before the end of the fifth hour, and a second before the end of the tenth; limited waivers.
- Rest periods (IWC wage orders, section 12). 10 minutes per four hours or major fraction, paid.
- Premiums (section 226.7). One additional hour of pay at the regular rate for each workday a meal period, and for each workday a rest period, is not provided.
- Regular rate. Includes non-discretionary pay; flat-sum bonuses are divided by non-overtime hours (Alvarado v. Dart Container, 2018), and premiums are paid at the regular rate (Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, 2021).
- Minimum wage. $16.90 an hour statewide from January 1, 2026, with higher local and industry rates.
- Records and wage statements (sections 1174 and 226). Daily hours and wages kept for three years; itemized wage statements with hours and rates.
Mistakes that lead to California wage claims
The common mistakes are paying overtime only after 40 hours a week, paying time and a half for hours that should be double time, ignoring the seventh-day rule, leaving bonuses out of the overtime rate, recording scheduled rather than actual meal times, treating an on-duty or interrupted meal as a break, accepting meal waivers on days too long for them to be valid, and never paying premiums for late meals. Each of these is calculated or flagged automatically in this workbook.
Frequently asked questions
How is overtime calculated in California?
Under Labor Code section 510, non-exempt employees earn 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday and over 40 in a workweek, and for the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day worked in a workweek. They earn double time for hours over 12 in a workday and over 8 on the seventh consecutive day. Hours already paid as daily overtime are not counted again toward the weekly 40.
What is the meal break penalty in California?
If an employer does not provide a required 30-minute meal period, starting no later than the end of the fifth hour of work (or the tenth, for a second meal), it owes the employee one additional hour of pay at the regular rate for that workday. A separate hour is owed for a day on which required rest periods were not provided, so at most two premium hours a day.
Does a bonus change overtime pay in California?
Yes. Overtime is paid on the regular rate of pay, which includes non-discretionary bonuses. For a flat-sum bonus, the California Supreme Court held that the bonus is divided by the non-overtime hours worked in the period, which raises the regular rate. Meal and rest premiums are also paid at the regular rate.
How many rest breaks are required in California?
One paid 10-minute rest period for every four hours worked or major fraction of four hours. That is one for a day of 3.5 to 6 hours, two for more than 6 up to 10 hours, and three for more than 10 up to 14 hours. No rest period is required for a day under 3.5 hours.
How long must California employers keep timesheets?
Labor Code section 1174 requires payroll records showing hours worked daily and wages paid to be kept for at least three years. The wage orders also require records of when each work period and each meal period begins and ends.
