Over the last decade, California employers have witnessed a state-wide increase in wage-and-hour lawsuits filed in state and federal courts. Employers’ failure to pay split-shift premiums is often alleged as a cause of action. This post is written in a Q&A form to provide employers and employees with brief guidelines on how California split-shift law works. Keep in mind that these rules apply only to hourly non-exempt employees.
What are split shifts?
Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders define “split shift” as a work schedule which is interrupted by non-paid non-working periods established by the employer, other than “bona fide” rest or meal periods.
Split shifts are typical in many industries. For example, in the food and beverage industry, some restaurants require employees to work both lunch and dinner on a single workday. However, because business hours during the afternoon are slow, the employees are required to take an unpaid break. This type of schedule clearly falls under the definition of a split shift.
My employer requires me to take one 1-hour unpaid meal break in the middle of my workday. Is this a split shift?
It is likely that such break constitutes a “bona fide” meal break rather than a split shift. In its 12/11/2002 Opinion Letter “Hours Worked-Split Shift”, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) has taken the position that any break in excesses of one hour should be treated as a split shift. Therefore, the answer to this question is likely NO because such break is no longer than an hour.
Because I cannot work a full day, I requested my employer to give me a 2-hour break between morning and evening work hours. Am I entitled to a split-shift premium?
No. Employers are not required to pay a split-shift premium if it is an employee who requests the interruption in his or her work schedule or time off to attend personal matters. Because this non-paid non-working period was not established by the employer,it is not a split shift within the meaning of the wage order. For example, in one case, the Court of Appeals held that a waitress was not entitled to a split-shift premium because during a hiring process she signed an affidavit stating that her services were available only during lunch and dinner business hours and that she had family obligations that prevented her from working during the afternoon hours. The court found that her affidavit constituted a waiver of split-shift premiums. (Leighton v. Old Heidelberg, Ltd., 219 Cal. App. 3d 1062 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 1990))
Does my employer have to pay me extra if I work split shifts?
It depends on your hourly rate. If you are paid at a minimum wage rate, then the answer is yes, your employer must pay you an extra hour at a minimum wage rate. Specifically, under applicable Wage Orders, section 4(c), “when an employee works a split shift, one hour’s pay at the minimum wage shall be paid in addition to the minimum wage for that workday, except when the employee resides at the place of employment.”
Example 1. If your workday consists of two shifts: (1) 9AM-12PM and (2) 4PM-9PM and you earn only the minimum wage, your employer will have to pay one additional hour. Given that CA’s 2013 minimum wage rate is $8 per hour, in this example, the employee would be entitled to $72 (8 hours x $8 plus $8 as a split shift premium.)
However, if you earn more than minimum wage, it is likely that you are not entitled to a split shift premium, or only partially. ( see next section)
My hourly rate is more than minimum wage and I often work split shifts. However, my boss tells me that I am not entitled to a split-shift premium. Is he correct?
It is likely that your boss is correct. If you are paid a total amount greater than the minimum wage for all hours worked during your split shift plus one additional hour, then you are not entitled to split shift premiums. To figure out whether you are owed any split-shift premiums, compare the following two numbers: (1) your total pay at your regular rate for the day; and (2) the minimum wage multiplied by number of hours worked plus one hour. If your (1) is greater than (2), then you are not entitled to any split-shift premiums. However, if (2) is greater than (1) than the difference between two numbers is your split-shift premium.
Example 2. Your workday consists of two shifts: (1) 9AM-12PM and (2) 4PM-9PM and you are paid $8.50 an hour. (1) Your actual pay would be $68 (8 hours x $8.50). Now let’s compare this number with the minimum wage plus one hour: 8+1 hours x $8 = $72. In this example, your actual pay is lower than what you are entitled to under the split-shift rule. Your split shift premium is $4 ($72-$68).
Example 3. Your workday consists of two shifts: (1) 9AM-12PM and (2) 4PM-9PM and you are paid $9 an hour. (1) Your actual pay would be $72 (8 hours x $72). Now let’s compare this number with the minimum wage plus one hour: 8+1 hours x $8 = $72. Because your actual pay is equal to the minimum wage plus one hour, you are not owed anything for working a split shift.
As you can see, in a split shift situation, if the wage earned is higher the applicable minimum wage plus one hour, the excess over the minimum wage is credited towards the split shift premium.
I regularly work an 8-hour shift that is split by a 2-hour break. Since it is a split shift and I am entitled to an additional hour of pay, does it mean that this 9th hour should be paid at order cialis online an overtime rate?
No, the additional split-shift hour should not be counted towards overtime hours. In its June 2002 Manual (section 46.7.3), the DLSE explained that split-shift premium pays, although paid to employees in hourly increments as required under Wage Orders, do not constitute “hours worked” for purposes of calculating whether overtime is owed.
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I work in construccion, my employer requires me and all employees to attend a meeting after work.
My regular shift is from 6:00AM to 2:30 PM the meeting is from 4:00PM to 6:00PM. I get paid 8 regular hrs. For my normal work day and 2 more regular hrs for the meeting.
Is this legal or should I be conpensated differently?
BTW I make over $30/hr.
Assuming you are a nonexempt employee, it looks like you should be paid overtime for those two hours that you spent at the meeting. Because you make $30 per hour, mostlikely you are not entitled to split-shift premiums. This answer is based only on the facts provided in your comment. To give you a complete answer I would need to know more information. Feel free to contact me directly if you have further questions.
I am a restaurant owner. One of my employees works 4hrs ($10/hr pay) during lunch and then 3.83hrs for dinner performing different duties at the pay rate of $8/hr. His break between both shifts is more then 1hr. How should I calculate the split shift fee? What rate should I use towards the calculations, $10, $8 or maybe an average of $9? Please advise. Thank you.
Is it legal for my employer to have me work one hour in the morning from 7:30 am-8:30 am and then come back to work from 4;30pm- 11:30pm.
Is the law different when there are two breaks between shifts, i.e.,
work from 7am to 10am – break from 10am to 11:30am
work 2nd shift from 11:30am to 2pm; second break from 2pm to 4:30pm
work 3rd shift from 4:30pm to 7pm
Total hours worked = 8 hours
Hourly wage is $11.00 per hour
Can you please tell me if an employee works a 6 hour shift if they are docked 1/2 hour for lunch and paid for only 5 1/2 hours or can they be paid a straight 6 hours?
This one time I worked in one day from 7am-3pm then I got called to work from 11pm – 3am(next calendar date) . I’m i entitled to 4 hours of overtime?
The answer to your question depends upon how your employer sees the work day. If the work day runs from 12 AM until 11:59 PM, then you would have accumulated 9 working hours. If no time off were given for a meal break, you are entitled to one hour of overtime pay.
The other day I went into work at 7am-9am and then I came back in for my normal shift from 6pm-10pm. I get minimum wage. Is this a split shift??? If so how many hours SHOULD I be paid for that day?
Yes, it is a split shift and you are entitled to one additional hour of pay at a minimum wage rate.
My employer has scheduled me from 8 am to 12 pm then from 8 pm to 10pm. There is 8 hours in between the scheduled hours. Is this a split shift….Should I receive split shift compensation ( I make $9.25 hr) and/or since I am requested to come back for only two hours is there not a 4 hr minimum scheduling that should be in affect. I work in retail and I am unclear on the labor laws in this type of industry.
In the case of tipped restaurant employees – do their tips count toward pay for the split shift question? Servers get paid minimum wage by the company but make more per hour because of tips. When calculating possible split shift pay is it only the hourly wage paid by the company that is considered in CA? (And curious to know – Does this differ in other states where they can pay the below minimum rate for tipped employees under normal circumstances?)
Hello, my wife often works over 10 hours a day with no extra compensation. Her employer requires her to make her own schedule and appointments equaling 9 hours minus a one hour lunch. Often, my wife will go into work for a meeting at 0800 hours and then have a client appointment at 1800 hours resulting in a 11 hour day. Her employer gets around this by telling her it’s her responsibility to make the schedule equal 8 hours by taking a break in the middle of the day. Often these late appointments cannot be schedule any other time there putting my wife in a difficult situation. She only makes $14.00 hr and it’s hardly worth working 11 or 12 hour days at that rate. . Is this legal? It doesn’t sound like it should be.
An employee works 7am-3pm and then 10pm-10am – how many hours are regular, time and a half and double time?
1st off I live in San Diego so i dont know it is the same. But my employer has scheduled me for the following shift. 9-1pm, 1:30-4:30pm, 5-7pm in the same day. The 30 min in between is travel time to the next client. I am a Senior Caregiver with Home Instead. Pay is a concern as well as a lunch break.
my employer had me work a 10 hour day at $12.60 and hour then work an 8 hour day with 6 hours in between. is this acceptable as a split shift?
I work from 5.30am to 9:30 and come back 3:00 to 7:00pm at a hone care and only get paid minimum wage am i entitle to the split shift compensation been doing it for a year now but i havent revieved my additiinal hour????
Most likely you are entitled to additional $8 of pay for each day that you worked a split shift.