Overtime, Weekly Hour Limits and Violations: What Every IHSS Provider Should Know

Most providers learn about the weekly limits the hard way, when a timesheet is flagged. The rules are simple once they are laid out, and knowing them protects both your pay and your ability to keep working.

The workweek is Sunday to Saturday

Everything in this guide is counted on the IHSS workweek: Sunday at 12:00 a.m. through Saturday at 11:59 p.m. It does not follow the pay period (1st–15th, 16th–end), so a single workweek often spans two timesheets. When you plan a month, think in weeks first.

Overtime starts after 40 hours

Hours over 40 in a workweek are paid at time-and-a-half. That is normal and allowed; working between 40 and the cap described below is simply overtime, and nothing extra is needed to be paid for it. The limits are a separate thing.

The weekly caps

• One recipient: up to 70 hours and 45 minutes per workweek.
• Two or more recipients: up to 66 hours combined per workweek, across all of them.
• Each recipient's own weekly maximum: roughly their monthly authorized hours divided by four, shown on their Notice of Action. Going over it needs the county's approval in advance, even if you are under your own cap.

Hours over a cap are still paid, but they generate a violation (below). Two exemptions can raise a provider's cap to 90 hours a week and 360 a month: the Live-In Family Care Provider exemption and the Extraordinary Circumstances exemption. Both have specific conditions and are applied for through the county. The IHSSHours.com guide linked at the end of this page walks through both.

Travel time between recipients

If you work for more than one recipient on the same day, the time you spend traveling directly from one to the next is paid, up to 7 hours per workweek. It is claimed on its own form (SOC 2255), it counts toward the 66-hour limit, and claiming more than 7 hours is itself a violation.

The violation ladder

Since May 2016, exceeding a weekly limit without an approved exemption works like this:

1. First violation: a written notice.
2. Second: a notice, with a one-time option to complete a short CDSS training within 14 days and have the violation removed.
3. Third: a three-month suspension from working as an IHSS provider.
4. Fourth: a one-year loss of eligibility, after which you must enroll again from the start.

After a full year with no new violation, one comes off your record. You can dispute a violation through the county, so keep your own record of hours and any approvals you were given.

Staying under the limits

• Add up every recipient's hours by workweek before you commit to a schedule, especially in weeks that cross two pay periods
• If a recipient needs more than their weekly maximum in a particular week, ask the county first; approvals are not retroactive
• Keep travel time inside the 7 hours and only between recipients, never from home to the first one
• If your hours are high every week, ask the county whether an exemption applies to your situation before a violation forces the conversation