IHSS Paycheck Calculator

Pay comes in three steps. The dates follow the pay period; the timing rule is from the enrollment agreement every IHSS provider signs.

1. 1

   The pay period ends

   IHSS has two pay periods: the 1st through the 15th and the 16th through the end of the month. The current one is Nov 1–15, and it ends on November 15, 2026.
2. 2

   You and your recipient submit the timesheet

   Submit once you've worked all your hours for the period. Deadline: November 29, 2026, within 2 weeks after the period ends (SOC 846). Counties word the timing differently, so follow your county's instructions. A timesheet that is not submitted within two weeks means your pay will be delayed. Both you and your recipient sign it.
3. 3

   You are paid

   If the timesheet is properly completed and submitted on time, you are paid within 10 days of the day the timesheet processing facility receives it. Exact paydays vary, so we show only estimates, on the pay calendar.

Sources: CDSS IHSS Provider Resources, the SOC 846 enrollment agreement, the Los Angeles County DPSS timesheet page and the CDSS Electronic Timesheet FAQ (listed below).

1. 1

   Hours go into Sunday–Saturday workweeks

   A workweek begins at 12:00 a.m. on Sunday and ends at 11:59 p.m. the following Saturday. A pay period can split a workweek, which is why there is a carry-in field for hours worked earlier in the week.
2. 2

   Up to 40 hours a week is paid at your hourly rate

   Each week is counted on its own, and hours do not carry from one week to the next. Overtime is counted by the workweek, not by the day or the pay period.
3. 3

   Hours over 40 in a workweek are overtime

   Overtime is paid at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate.
4. 4

   Straight time and overtime pay are added

   The total is your estimated gross pay for the period. It is before taxes and deductions, and travel between recipients goes in the travel row under each week. Travel counts toward the 40-hour overtime threshold (WIC §12300.4(c)) and not toward the weekly maximum (WIC §12300.4(b)(2)(B)), so the weekly maximum check uses care hours only.

Sources: CDSS All County Letter 16-01 (the overtime rate, the 40-hour line and the workweek) and LA County DPSS. More on the rules in the overtime guide.

Every figure on this page is gross pay. The check you receive can be lower for these reasons. This list covers only what CDSS publications confirm.

• Income tax withholding. IHSS wages are taxable for income tax purposes unless exempt. A live-in provider can file the Live-In Self Certification (SOC 2298) so that no federal or state income tax is withheld.
• Social Security and Medicare. Even a non-family live-in provider who has filed SOC 2298 is still subject to withholding for Social Security, FICA and Medicare taxes.
• The recipient’s share of cost. If a recipient has a share of cost that has not been paid, the state deducts the unpaid amount from the provider’s paycheck, and the recipient then pays that amount to the provider. It shows on the timesheet under “Share-of-Cost Liability.”

For anything else on your pay stub, see the income taxes guide, the W-2 guide and your county IHSS office. CDSS and county staff cannot give tax advice.

This is the tool for a pay period you have already worked. You enter the hours you actually worked on each day, pick your county so the hourly rate fills in, and it separates straight time from overtime across each Sunday–Saturday workweek and totals your estimated gross.

It is not the planner. If you are working out what hours to put on an upcoming timesheet, use the IHSS Planner instead — that starts from your monthly authorization and builds a schedule. This one starts from hours already worked and prices them.

Three things, and only the first two are required.

• The pay period. IHSS pays twice a month: PP1 covers the 1st through the 15th, PP2 covers the 16th through the end of the month. Pick the month and the half you are pricing.
• Your county hourly rate. Choose your county and the rate fills in automatically. You can type a different rate over it if yours differs.
• Your monthly authorized hours, optional, from your Notice of Action. Add it and the calculator tracks what this period uses against your month.

There is also a carry-in field, and it matters more than it looks. Overtime is counted per Sunday–Saturday workweek, and a workweek does not stop at the 15th. If the first week of your pay period began in the previous period, enter the hours you already worked in those earlier days — the calculator adds them to the first week only, so the 40-hour line lands where it really falls. Leave it at zero and a week that straddles the boundary will under-report overtime.

Overtime starts after 40 hours in a single Sunday–Saturday workweek. Not after 40 hours in a pay period, and not after any number of hours in a day. Each workweek is counted on its own and hours never carry from one week into the next. Overtime is paid at 1.5× your hourly rate.

One detail worth knowing: the calculator never counts overtime on hours you did not work in the period you are pricing. If carry-in pushes a week over 40, the overtime it reports is capped at the hours actually worked inside this pay period — the rest belongs to the previous paycheck.

Two weeks, seven hours a day, Monday through Friday.

Neither week reaches 40 hours, so there is no overtime at all. The period total is 70 hours, all straight time.

In dollars, at the San Diego County rate of $20.40 an hour (effective March 1, 2026):

• 70 hours × $20.40 = $1,428.00 estimated gross

Note that 70 hours across two weeks is nowhere near a weekly cap, and still produces no overtime, because overtime is a weekly test. Monthly or per-period totals never trigger it.

Same two weeks, but the first one is heavier.

Week 1 runs the total forward as 6, 13, 20, 27, 34, 41, 45 — so it crosses 40 partway through Friday. Hours 41 to 45 are overtime: 5 overtime hours. Week 2 reaches 38 and never crosses the line, so all of it is straight time.

The period comes to 83 hours: 78 straight time and 5 overtime.

In dollars, at the same San Diego County rate:

• Straight time: 78 × $20.40 = $1,591.20
• Overtime: 5 × $30.60 (that's $20.40 × 1.5) = $153.00
• Estimated gross: $1,744.20

Week 1's 45 hours is still well under the 70-hour-45-minute weekly cap that applies when you serve one recipient. The overtime threshold and the weekly cap are two separate lines, and crossing the first is normal.

Pick the cap that matches your situation — 70:45 (monthly authorized hours divided by 4; CDSS SOC 846 (11/15), p. 2; SOC 2271A; DHCS WPCS Provider FAQ, Oct 2025) when you serve one recipient, 66:00 when you serve two or more recipients, or 90:00 if you have an approved exemption. The weekly breakdown flags any week that goes over the cap you picked, in red, with a note that your county may not approve those hours.

The calculator flags; it does not block. It will still price a week that exceeds your cap, because its job is to show you what the hours you entered are worth — not to decide whether they will be approved. If a week is flagged, check it before you submit.

Add your monthly authorized hours and you get a progress bar for the period: how much of the month this timesheet uses, and how much is left for the rest of it. If the period alone exceeds your monthly authorization, the calculator says so and tells you to verify with your county before submitting. That is the number that causes problems — a period can be perfectly legal week by week and still overrun the month.

Is this my take-home pay?

No. Every figure is gross, before taxes and deductions. The section “Why your paycheck may be lower” above lists the reductions that CDSS publications confirm.

Does it include travel time?

Yes. Enter travel between recipients in the travel row under each week. It counts toward the 40-hour overtime threshold (WIC §12300.4(c); CDSS SOC 846, 11/15), so hours of travel after you pass 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times, and it does not count toward the weekly maximum (WIC §12300.4(b)(2)(B)). See the travel time guide if you travel between recipients.

Why is my overtime lower than I expected?

Usually the carry-in field. If your pay period starts mid-week, the hours worked earlier that week count toward the 40-hour line, and leaving carry-in at zero hides them.

Does entering hours here submit anything?

No. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. The hours, rate and pay stay in your browser and there is no account. The one thing the calculator remembers, on your own device, is the last county you picked, so it is ready next time.

Every rule on this page comes from one of these official documents.

• CDSS All County Letter 16-01 (January 7, 2016) Overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate over 40 hours per workweek; the workweek defined; the weekly maximum (monthly authorized hours divided by four, 66 hours for multiple recipients). (read October 30, 2026)
• CDSS IHSS Program Provider Enrollment Agreement, SOC 846 (10/19) Item 2: the timesheet must be completed and submitted within two weeks after the pay period ends; if it is, pay comes within 10 days of the day the processing facility receives it. (read October 30, 2026)
• Los Angeles County DPSS, IHSS Timesheets and EVV Providers do not have to wait until the end of the pay period to submit; once the hours for the period are completed, the provider can submit. (read November 1, 2026)
• CDSS Electronic Timesheet Frequently Asked Questions Timesheets received before the end of the pay period are not processed until the end of the pay period (a processing statement; the FAQ is undated, the file was last modified June 2017). (read November 1, 2026)
• CDSS IHSS Provider Resources The two pay periods, the 1st through the 15th and the 16th through the end of the month; providers and recipients sign and submit timesheets in the Electronic Services Portal. (read October 30, 2026)
• CDSS IHSS Income Tax Fact Sheet (March 2026) IHSS wages are taxable unless exempt; the Live-In Self Certification (SOC 2298); Social Security and Medicare withholding. (read October 30, 2026)
• CDSS IHSS Program Share-of-Cost fact sheet A recipient’s unpaid share of cost is deducted from the provider’s paycheck. (read October 30, 2026)
• LA County DPSS, IHSS Program Rules: Overtime, Travel Time and Wait Time Hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek are overtime. (read October 30, 2026)