How is the seventh consecutive day of work paid in California?
When an employee works all seven days of one workweek, the seventh day is paid at 1.5× the regular rate for the first 8 hours and 2× for anything beyond 8. This is separate from daily overtime, so a long seventh day can reach double-time far sooner than an ordinary one.
The trigger is seven days within a single defined workweek, not any seven days in a row. An employee who works the last three days of one workweek and the first four of the next has not worked a seventh consecutive day for this purpose.
California also requires one day of rest in seven, with a narrow exemption for weeks where every daily shift is 6 hours or less.
Because the premium depends on where the workweek boundary falls, a misconfigured workweek quietly underpays every long stretch a business works.
Last reviewed 2026-08-07. Informational only — not legal advice. California rules change; confirm against the current source before acting.