A 2× rate, worked out

Double Time Calculator

Double time is your regular rate multiplied by 2. The arithmetic is one line long; knowing which hours earn 2× instead of 1.5× is where people lose money. This page shows the math, when double time actually kicks in, and how a shift crosses from the 1.5× band into the 2× band.

Where 2× is state law, and where it is only policy

Two different things can produce a 2× hour, and they are not interchangeable. One is a state statute that sets the rate whether or not anyone agreed to it. The other is a contract or a handbook that sets it. Where no statute sets 2×, the law does not give you double time — the employer does, voluntarily or because a contract requires it.

What the state labor departments actually publish, read on 2026-10-23:

• California — statutory 2×. Department of Industrial Relations, Labor Commissioner’s Office: “Double the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday and for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.” The same page sets 1.5× “for all hours worked in excess of eight hours up to and including 12 hours in any workday, and for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.” Trigger: a workday longer than 12 hours, or more than 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of the workweek.
• Washington — no statutory 2×. Department of Labor & Industries: “Other overtime rates, like double time pay are not required under Washington state law, with the exception of certain public works projects.” The same page sets the floor at “at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate” for hours over 40 in a 7-day workweek. Trigger: none outside public works — any 2× there is a contract or policy term.
• Other states — not verified here. The labor-department pages for Nevada, New York, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska, and the federal Department of Labor page, returned 403 or 404 to this browser on 2026-10-23. Nothing is written about those states because nothing was read; this page does not tell you their answer.

Three questions, in this order, decide which rate an hour earns:

1. Does a state statute set 2× for this hour? In California the test is mechanical: count the hours in the workday and the days in the workweek. Past 12 in a day, or past 8 on the 7th consecutive day, the rate is 2×; past 8 and up to 12 in a day, it is 1.5×.
2. Does a contract or collective agreement set it? An agreement can require 2× where no statute does — a common shape is straight time to 8 hours, 1.5× from 8 to 12, 2× past 12, with 2× added on holidays.
3. Does the handbook set it? If the 2× comes from employer policy, the policy is the source of the obligation, not the statute. That is the difference that matters on the day the policy changes.

One caveat from the same California source: a valid alternative workweek schedule — four 10-hour days or three 12-hour days — does not change how the regular rate is computed, which stays on a 40-hour workweek. The daily thresholds above are the general rule, and the DIR page lists exemptions and exceptions that sit outside it.

Where 2× sits between 1.5× and 2.5×

The premium tiers are three multipliers of the same regular rate. Keeping them visible side by side is the fastest way to see what changes when a shift crosses a threshold.

How to calculate it

Three steps, the same shape as the 1.5× arithmetic:

1. Find the regular rate. Under the federal FLSA this is pay for straight-time hours divided by straight-time hours.
2. Multiply by 2 to get the double-time rate.
3. Multiply that rate by the qualifying hours to get the double-time pay.

Worked examples at different rates

When double time actually applies

Federal law sets a floor of 1.5× for hours over 40 in a workweek and says nothing about 2×. So double time is not a federal entitlement — it comes from state law, a contract, or an employer policy. California is the one state with broad daily double-time triggers written into statute; everywhere else it is negotiated or voluntary.

Where you actually see 2×:

• California daily overtime. Hours over 12 in a single workday earn 2× the regular rate. Separately, hours over 8 on the 7th consecutive workday in a workweek also earn 2×. These are state statutory triggers, not employer discretion.
• Union contracts. A common pattern: hours 1–8 straight time, 9–12 at 1.5×, anything beyond 12 at 2×. Some agreements add 2× for holidays or for the 6th and 7th consecutive day.
• Employer holiday policies. Many employers pay 2× on major holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4th) even where no law requires it. This is a policy choice, not a statutory obligation.
• Shift-differential stacking. Some contracts pay double time for weekend shifts or overnight shifts as a flat premium on top of the base rate.

Because the source of the 2× obligation varies — state statute in California, a contract in most other places, an employer policy elsewhere — the practical first move is to check your state’s daily overtime rules and read your employment agreement. The arithmetic on this page is generic; the conditions that make a given hour qualify come from the statute or agreement that created them.

Crossing the line: a 14-hour California day

The most common double-time scenario is a single long day under California’s daily overtime rules. A 14-hour shift does not earn one flat rate — it is split into three bands, each at a different multiplier.

That is $360.00 for the day, not $280.00 (a flat $20/hr) and not $420.00 (a flat $30/hr). The tiers do the work. For a live version that splits any shift into bands as you type, use the time and a half calculator and set the multipliers per band.

The “regular rate” still matters at 2×

Just as with 1.5× overtime, the double-time multiplier applies to the FLSA regular rate — not always the base hourly wage on your offer letter. Non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials and commissions generally get averaged back into the regular rate before the multiplier runs, which raises the 2× rate alongside the 1.5× rate. The double-time band is therefore slightly higher than a naive base-times-2 estimate, and that gap gets larger in any week with bonus or differential pay.

For a refresher on how the regular rate is built up from weekly pay, the how to figure out time and a half pay page walks through the same arithmetic at 1.5×; the logic carries up the multiplier.

What the three calculator sites leave out

We checked the three sites this project benchmarks against. None of them prints a content page explaining when 2× actually applies — they either offer a double-time multiplier as a bare calculator setting with no explanation, or mention it inside a state-law index without showing the arithmetic.

Sources: benchmark read of redcort.com, teambridge.com and timecardcalculator.net (read 2026-10-17). None of the three publishes a double-time explainer page. timecardcalculator.net offers a double-time multiplier as a calculator setting with no accompanying explanation; redcort references double-time multipliers inside its state overtime index rather than a standalone method page.

Questions people actually ask

Related pages

General information only — not legal, tax or payroll advice. Double-time rules vary by state and contract; California’s daily triggers are statutory, most others are contractual. Your state’s labor department, your contract and your payslip remain the authority.