Crew hours: 3 paid-time and overtime costs to price

Key takeaways

• Record the state and applicable rule for each labor line.
• Split scheduled hours into straight-time and overtime groups.
• Include paid rest in the crew's day.
• Check overlapping breaks before counting cool-down time twice.

A crew hourly rate can look complete once the base wage, payroll burden, and markup are in place. The labor figure runs into trouble when it leaves out paid time away from the tools: rest breaks and cool-down periods on hot days. Each of those can cost money even when the crew is not installing anything during that time. An owner checking a bid should be able to see where those hours went, and an estimator should be able to point to the rule behind each one.

This post covers three items that appear in state rules. Every rule discussed here belongs to one state, and it applies only there. Where a rule is quoted, the source is linked. Where the post gives advice on how to build a bid, that advice is an estimating approach, not a legal requirement. Check the full text of the rule for the state where the crew works, and bring in a payroll provider or legal counsel when a figure matters for a contract.

These rules stop at each state's border

Each rule in this post applies only in the state named beside it, and only to the employees the source describes. That matters for any bid that crosses state lines or moves one crew across several jobs.

The Washington overtime rule, the Washington heat rules, and the California rest period rule are three separate rules with their own wording and their own consequences. A bid should not borrow one state's threshold, multiplier, or temperature for another state. A crew that moves between states should carry its rate sheet by job, not by crew. The Washington heat source says this directly: the temperatures in its Table 1 "were developed based on Washington state data and are not applicable to other states," according to WAC 296-62-09530. That sentence is a good model for the whole estimate. Each state's figures belong to that state's job.

An estimator who works across state lines can handle this by recording the state for each job in the estimate and naming the rule behind each labor line. A line that says "Washington overtime" or "California rest period" is easier to check than a line with no source at all. It also makes it clear which rule to re-check if the job moves or the crew changes.

Washington overtime: split hours at the weekly threshold

Under Washington's rule, an employee is entitled to one and one-half times the regular rate for all hours worked in excess of forty each week, according to WAC 296-128-550.

For an estimator, the important parts are the threshold and the multiplier. A crew that works a long week to hold a schedule will push labor cost up even if the hourly rate in the bid stays the same. A single blended rate hides that effect. It can make a schedule with heavy weekend or extended-day work look cheaper on paper than it will be in payroll. For a related bid check, see construction overtime cost inputs.

Illustrative example: split a long workweek

Consider a hypothetical crew member with a regular rate of R dollars an hour who works 50 hours in one Washington workweek. That leaves 10 hours past the threshold, paid at the overtime rate. The remaining hours are the straight-time hours. The bid should show both groups so the owner can see how the schedule drives the number.

Read the full section before you finalize the regular rate, especially when pay includes other items. The estimator's job is to keep the hours in the right bucket.

Overtime estimates are easier to check when the schedule is in view. Lay out the planned hours by person and by week. Mark every week that goes past forty hours. If a crew member's hours cross the line partway through a week, the portion over forty belongs to the higher group. Put that split in the labor build-up as its own line so the owner can compare it against the calendar. Keep the schedule and the labor figure tied together, so a change to the calendar changes the premium in the same place.

Foremen and crew leads should see the same numbers. A weekly hours report that shows each person's total against the forty-hour line gives the estimator a way to check the plan against what actually happens on the job. When a schedule change adds a Saturday, the estimate should show which hours move into the higher group and what that does to the labor total.

Here is a planning check that takes a few minutes. Add the planned hours for each person across the week. Anyone above forty needs a separate overtime line. Then ask whether the schedule can move hours into a week that is under forty without pushing the finish date. The estimate should show that trade-off, because moving hours between weeks is what changes the overtime line.

California rest periods: include paid time and missed-rest risk

Under California's rule, if an employer does not provide all of the rest periods required in a workday, the employee is entitled to one additional hour of pay for that workday, not one additional hour for each rest period missed, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations, which quotes Labor Code Section 226.7.

The same DIR page says that employers of California employees covered by the rest period provisions of the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders must authorize and permit a net 10-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked or major fraction thereof. That is the rest requirement itself. The one-hour rule describes what applies when some of those rest periods are not provided.

Rest time is paid time, and that matters for the estimate. The quote calls the rest period "net" and "paid," so the labor line should carry the rest minutes as hours on the clock, not as time taken off the day. Under the rule as quoted, a four-hour block of work calls for one 10-minute rest period. An eight-hour day has two four-hour blocks, so it calls for two 10-minute rest periods in total. Multiply that across the crew and the days on the schedule, and the paid rest adds up.

The schedule should note the planned rest timing so the foreman can compare it with actual breaks.

For bidding, treat that one hour as a contingency tied to the schedule, not as a standing cost. Record the assumption behind that contingency rather than assuming rest periods will never be missed. Build the rest periods into the crew's day so they are scheduled, and keep the one-hour figure in the risk notes for the job. If the foreman tracks breaks on the job, the estimator can compare actual rest against the planned rest on the next bid.

A foreman's break log is a practical record for this. Use it to compare the day's required rest periods with those actually provided and document any gaps for review.

This rule applies to crews working in California and to the employees covered by the wage order provisions the page describes. A contractor working in another state should not use the California figures there. A job that starts in one state and finishes in another should be split into two sections of the estimate, so each set of rest lines uses the rule for its own state.

Paid cool-down rest applies under Washington's heat rules

Under Washington's heat rules, both preventative and mandatory cool-down rest periods must be paid, unless they are taken during a meal period that is not otherwise required to be compensated. The preventative rule is in WAC 296-62-09530, and the mandatory rule is in WAC 296-62-09547.

The mandatory rule also sets the trigger. According to WAC 296-62-09547, the employer must implement high heat procedures when the temperature is at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, unless engineering or administrative controls, such as air-conditioning or scheduling work at cooler times of the day, are used to lower employees' exposure below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

The same section says the mandatory cool-down rest may be provided at the same time as any meal or rest period required under WAC 296-126-092. That overlap matters for the estimate. If a meal or rest period already covers the cool-down time, check the schedule before adding the cool-down minutes a second time. The point is to count each paid minute once, in the right place.

Heat days need their own line in the estimate, because the cool-down rest is a separate cost from the work itself. For a Washington job, the estimator needs a plan for each day the forecast or the site conditions point toward the 90-degree threshold. Price the paid cool-down rest for those days, and state in the bid's assumptions whether the site has controls that keep exposure below 90 degrees.

Keep a daily record for heat days. The record should show the forecast temperature, whether the site has controls, and which cool-down rest periods were planned and taken. That record gives the estimator a basis for the next bid and gives the owner a way to see what the estimate assumed.

Building the three items into the crew hourly rate

Put each item on its own line in the labor build-up, and name the state rule behind each line. A labor figure built this way lets the estimator update one line when a schedule or a site condition changes, without reworking the whole rate.

For a crew working in Washington, separate overtime from paid preventative cool-down rest and mandatory high-heat rest; apply the temperature trigger and controls exception only to the high-heat procedures. For a crew working in California, separate scheduled paid rest from the missed-rest contingency.

In practice, the build-up can look like this:

• Straight-time hours: the hours the crew works up to the weekly limit, at the regular rate.
• Overtime hours (Washington): show the planned hours in the higher-rate group beside the weekly schedule.
• Paid rest (California): include the net 10-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked or major fraction thereof, as set out on the DIR page.
• Missed-rest risk (California): document the schedule assumption behind the contingency.
• Paid cool-down rest (Washington): record preventative rest under WAC 296-62-09530 separately from mandatory rest under the high-heat procedures in WAC 296-62-09547.

Each line should be easy to trace. The estimator should be able to show where the hours came from, which state governs them, and what the source says. Keep legitimate estimated labor costs in the labor figure, documenting their assumptions and distinguishing them from statutory requirements.

When the rate sheet changes, record the date and the reason for the change beside it. A rate that changed after a schedule revision should be easy to follow back to the schedule that drove it.

Keep the assumptions page with the bid. It should list the planned workweek, the rest schedule, the expected heat days, and any site controls. When the job starts, the foreman can compare the actual schedule to the plan. That comparison shows whether the labor figure covered the paid hours it was meant to cover. Use the construction estimate audit for a broader bid review.

Today, take one current bid and compare its weekly hours, rest schedule, and heat assumptions against its labor lines.

What an owner should ask about the labor figure

How should the labor figure be split?

Ask for the labor figure split into straight-time, overtime, and paid rest lines, with each line tied to a state. A single number makes it hard to check whether the paid rest time and the overtime premium are in it. A split figure answers that question directly.

What schedule should accompany the bid?

Ask, too, for the planned workweek and the planned rest schedule, written out. A bid that states the workweek lets the owner see whether the labor figure reflects forty-hour weeks or longer ones, and whether rest periods were planned into the day.

An owner does not need to be a payroll expert to check a bid. The owner needs to see whether the schedule drives any overtime, whether the crew's rest is in the hours, and whether any heat-related paid rest is priced for the expected days. Each of those is a question about the schedule, and the estimate should answer it on the page.

Which state's rules should the estimate use?

The estimate should use the rules for the state where the work happens. If the job spans two states, ask how each state's rule was handled separately. A bid that uses one state's figures for the whole job is worth questioning, because each rule in this post applies only in its own state.

What happens if the schedule changes?

A change to the schedule should update the affected labor lines. A change that adds a Saturday can move hours into the overtime line. A change that adds a hot week can add cool-down time to the heat line. A bid built from one blended rate cannot show either change.

This post is general information about three items in specific state rules. It is not legal advice, and the quotes it uses are excerpts. The full rule text, read for the state and the employees involved, controls the estimate.