How does overtime work for caregivers and home care workers in California?

Home care is one of the fastest-moving parts of the Bay Area workforce and one of the least understood by the families and small agencies who employ caregivers. Two sets of overtime rules apply, and which one wins depends on who the employer is.

What overtime does California require for personal attendants?

A personal attendant is someone whose job is mainly supervising, feeding, dressing or otherwise caring for a child, or for an elderly person or person with a disability who needs help. Under California’s Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, personal attendants earn time and a half after 9 hours in a workday or 45 hours in a workweek (Labor Code 1454). If more than 20 percent of the week goes to general housework rather than care, the person is not a personal attendant and the standard daily and weekly overtime rules for household workers apply instead.

What changes when an agency is the employer?

Federal law. In 2015 the U.S. Department of Labor stopped third-party employers, such as home care agencies and staffing companies, from using the federal companionship exemption. In 2025 the Department proposed to reverse that and stopped enforcing the 2015 rule while the proposal is pending, so check the current federal status before relying on it. California’s own rules apply either way: an agency employing personal attendants tracks the state daily and weekly overtime rules and pays whichever yields more for each hour. Late final pay adds penalties, see final paycheck rules.

Live-in caregivers

Live-in household employees fall under the state household occupations wage order, which requires specific off-duty periods, including 12 consecutive hours off in each workday, and pay at the premium rate for work during those off-duty hours. Meal and lodging credits against minimum wage are allowed only within the dollar limits the wage order sets and only with a written agreement. Break rules still apply, see meal and rest break rules and PAGA.

Other rules that apply to caregivers

• Paid sick leave from the first day of work, including for caregivers employed directly by a family (Labor Code 246).
• Local minimum wage where the care is performed, such as $19.61 in San Francisco or $17.34 in Oakland in 2026. See the Bay Area table.
• Travel time between clients during the workday is paid work time.
• Caregivers are almost never independent contractors under the ABC test; the care is the core of an agency’s business.
• Licensed home care organizations must register their aides with the state Home Care Aide Registry, complete background checks and meet training requirements before and after placement.

Where agencies get caught

Overnight and 24-hour shifts. An agency that pays a flat daily rate for a 24-hour assignment without tracking sleep time, meal periods and hours past 9 in the day builds overtime liability every shift. Put the hours on the time record, whatever the pay structure. A compliance check-up tests scheduling, pay rates and classification together.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of September 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.