10 states with the most unpaid overtime

Published 2 Min Read

The San Francisco skyline, with multi-colored homes in the foreground before the tall skyscrapers, the sky is blue, and the bay can be seen in the left-hand corner.
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Most Americans can recall weeks when they exceeded the standard 40 hours of work without additional pay— but do they know how those hours add up over a year?

Rebel’s Guide to Project Management, a digital resource for professionals, surveyed 3,000 employees across the U.S., finding that collectively Americans worked 46 billion hours of unpaid overtime last year. On average, employees would tack on 4.5 hours each week without compensation, equating to 233 extra hours per worker annually. But depending on the state the employee works in, those hours — and their lost wages — could be far higher. For example, a California worker worked an average of 13 additional hours each week. 

Employees worked 13 billion hours of unpaid overtime

Read more: Over 80% of employers plan on upgrading their leave policies, according to WTW

Deanna Cuadra
Senior Reporter

Deanna Cuadra is a senior reporter at Employee Benefit News. Her work covers healthcare, U.S. policy and reform, challenges faced by women and parents in the workplace and innovation in work culture … Read full bio


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