What you need to know about split shift rules
A split shift premium is payable only where the split shift is employer-directed, not employee-requested
A reader recently emailed me to ask for a column on split shifts. He wrote: “There is a formula, but it can be confusing and when it is applicable and when it is not.”
Basics of split shifts
The regulation governing split shifts appears under the section of most wage orders addressing the minimum wage. The 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.” The pertinent subsection of the wage orders reads: “When an employee works a split shift, one (1) 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.”
The Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) posted a Q & A explainer of the rule on its website in 2018. DIR gives as an example of a split shift where an employer requires an employee to work from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for the lunch shift and then return to work at 4 p.m. for the dinner shift.
Where a split shift premium is paid, the DIR says the employer should identify the payment on the wage statement as a separate category of compensation such as “split shift premium” rather than lumping it with wages and bonuses.
When split shift premium triggered
An employee is entitled to split shift pay only where the split shift is “established by the employer.” The DIR explainer underscores this point: “The break between shifts … must be to the benefit of the employer. If an employee requests the break for their own convenience, then it is not a split shift.”
DIR elaborates: “Voluntarily picking up an extra shift does not qualify for the split shift premium. The purpose of the split shift premium is to prevent abuses by employers for scheduling shifts that are not voluntary.”
Click here to read the full article written by SCMV Shareholder Dan Eaton and published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.