SAG-AFTRA overtime runs from first call to dismissal; 2026 meal penalty figures conflict

On a SAG-AFTRA set, two timing rules shape much of a performer's extra pay. Overtime is counted from the first call to dismissal, and meal penalties, which the union calls liquidated damages, are owed when a meal arrives late. The union publishes the basic rules on its website. A 2026 industry summary adds revised figures that the union pages read for this article do not show.

This explainer covers how the clock works, how the day and weekly overtime schedules differ, how meal timing is set, and where the published penalty amounts conflict. Most figures come from the union's overtime and meal pages, a Greenslate summary of the 2026 changes, and a SAGindie summary written for low-budget projects. Where a source gives no effective date or leaves a point open, the article says so.

Counting pay time from call to dismissal

Overtime for SAG-AFTRA performers runs from first call to dismissal. Meal periods are excluded from that count, so a long meal break does not add to the overtime total, according to the union's overtime page.

Overtime is paid in tenth-hour units, which the page calls 1/10th hourly units. A tenth of an hour is six minutes. Where a performer is paid above a money break, the page says overtime is calculated on the money break amount rather than on the full pay.

The page presents these as general rules. It directs questions to a business representative at the local SAG-AFTRA office, and it notes that low budget theatrical agreements have their own overtime terms.

Day performers, the money break and the ten-hour line

For day performers under the theatrical rules, the money break is set at two times the minimum day performer rate, per day. The overtime page does not give a dollar figure for that rate, so the amount cannot be stated from the page alone.

Hours in the ninth and tenth are paid at time-and-one-half. Hours beyond ten are paid at double time. A day performer paid above the money break has overtime calculated on the break amount, and after ten hours the page lists time-and-one-half on that basis.

Converting the money break into dollars requires the current minimum day performer rate, which the page does not supply.

Weekly performers: two schedules, two sets of thresholds

The overtime page sorts weekly performers into two schedules by guaranteed weekly pay. Schedule B covers guarantees of $6,200 or less per week. Schedule C covers guarantees above that figure.

Under Schedule B, daily overtime is double time beyond ten hours. Weekly overtime is time-and-one-half beyond 44 hours in a studio workweek, or beyond 48 hours in an overnight location workweek.

Under Schedule C, daily overtime is also double time beyond ten hours, but it is calculated on a maximum basis of $5,500. The page does not state ninth- and tenth-hour rates for weekly performers, and it does not explain how the guarantee is measured for a multi-week contract.

Greenslate's 2026 summary lists different schedule breaks. It gives $6,350 for 2026 for Schedules B and C under the theatrical agreement, rising to $6,500 in 2027 and 2028. The $6,200 line on the union page therefore differs from that figure, and the sources read do not reconcile the two.

The overtime page carries no effective date. Nothing read for this article shows whether the $6,200 and $5,500 figures are the current amounts.

Meal timing: six hours from call, then six hours from each meal's end

The first meal is due no later than six hours after the performer's call time. Each later meal is due no later than six hours after the previous meal period ends, according to the union's page on meal due times.

When a meal is late, the producer owes liquidated damages. The page describes these as payments for late meals and sets them by the half-hour. It does not say whether a penalty applies once per performer or once per meal.

A SAGindie summary of the 2026 changes says the meal penalty rates apply per half-hour or any portion of one. That summary is the only source read that addresses the increment in those terms.

The union's meal page is short and covers timing and penalties only. The rest of the meal framework, including any deductible or non-deductible meal rules, is not covered there.

Meal penalty amounts: the published figures disagree

The SAG-AFTRA meal page lists $25 for each of the first two half-hours of a late meal, and $50 for each half-hour after that. The page gives no effective date.

Greenslate's summary gives a different schedule for principal performers and says it takes effect July 1, 2026. It lists $25 for the first half-hour, $35 for the second, $50 for the third and fourth, and $75 for the fifth and each later half-hour. It lists background performer rates of $7.50, $10, $12.50 and $15 on the same tiers.

SAGindie's summary describes the 2026 change as creating an additional tier for the fifth and subsequent half-hour violation. It gives $75 per half-hour for principal performers and $15 for background performers. It gives no effective date for the meal penalty change, and it does not list the $35 or $50 tiers. It points readers to the 2026 Memorandum of Agreement for a full explanation.

The gap is largest late in a meal. On the union page, a late meal costs $50 per half-hour after the second. In the 2026 summary, the fifth and later half-hours cost $75 each. Late meals carry a per-half-hour cost, and the published schedules do not agree on what that cost is.

None of the sources read says whether penalties apply per performer or per meal. The agreement text was not available to read for this article. Until the figures are checked against it, neither schedule should be treated as confirmed for the July 2026 period.

The 2026 overtime thresholds in the television agreement

Greenslate's summary says the money-break thresholds in Section 25 of the Television Agreement increase for contracts entered into on or after the effective date. For three-day performers, the threshold moves from $3,150 to $3,800. For weekly, series and term performers, it moves from $4,400 to $5,200, then to $5,750 on July 1, 2028.

The summary gives the effective date as July 1, 2026, or the first Sunday after the AMPTP receives ratification notice, whichever is later. Double-time rates are recalculated with those thresholds. Weekly performers move from $200 to $236 per hour at double time, increasing to $261 effective July 1, 2028.

Stunt performers on multiple-picture weekly deals have separate figures. The summary gives a threshold of $5,300 per week, rising to $5,750 on July 1, 2027, and to $6,200 on July 1, 2029.

Greenslate's summary describes the wider agreement as running from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030, with ratification on June 5, 2026, and a vote of 91.42 percent in favor on a 19.25 percent turnout. SAGindie gives the ratification date as June 4, 2026, and gives no vote count. The two sources differ by one day on the ratification date.

SAGindie's summary does not mention overtime or money-break changes. The union pages read for this article do not show the Section 25 figures, so they remain unconfirmed here. Greenslate says its post is general information rather than legal advice, and it points readers to the 2026 MOA for series regular changes.