New California Physicians and Surgeons  Overtime Exemption Rates

California Labor Code section 515.6 exempts certain licensed physicians and surgeons from Labor Code 510 overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum hourly compensation.  That rate changes annually. California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced the January 1, 2026 rate increases for this minimum to $107.17, up from $103.75, reflecting the 3.3% increase in the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Employers that pay eligible professionals this minimum hourly rate and accurately track hours worked do not need to pay overtime to those employees. The physician or surgeon skills and duties criteria in Labor Code section 515.6 must also be met. Principally, the employee must be “primarily engaged” (more than 50% of the time) in duties requiring licensure. California Business and Professions Code section 2052 specifies such duties, requiring a medical license for anyone who “practices or attempts to practice, or who advertises or holds himself or herself out as practicing, any system or mode of treating the sick or afflicted in this state, or diagnoses, treats, operates for, or prescribes for any ailment, blemish, deformity, disease, disfigurement, disorder, injury, or other physical or mental condition of any person.” Physicians and surgeons paid on a salary basis will not qualify for this exemption, but may otherwise qualify for the administrative, executive or professional exemptions from overtime. Each category possesses its own distinct requirements. For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin. See also: Tailored Functioning – Workplace Policy Handbook & Forms for 2026 (February 25, 2026) Computer Software Overtime Exemption Rates (February 20, 2026) Overtime Policy – Burning the Midnight Oil (March 9, 2023) Helena Kobrin March 6, 2026