Posted on January 1, 2024
In California, a split shift is a work day that is interrupted by unpaid time off work that is not a meal break. You have a split shift if you work in the morning, are given several hours off, then work again in the evening. You may be entitled to a shift split premium of 1 hour at the minimum wage.
Under California law, split shifts are multiple working shifts during a single work day that are interrupted by time off work. This time off work must be unpaid and cannot be a bona fide rest or meal break. It has to be a work schedule that is set by the employer.1
The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) has stated that interrupting 2 shifts with an unpaid period of more than 1 hour creates a split shift.2 This rule, however, has not been adopted by courts in California. Most employers follow it when assigning work schedules, though.
Split shifts are especially common in the restaurant industry.
For example: Julie is a waitress. On Monday, her employer schedules her to work from 11am to 2pm to help with the “lunch rush” and then from 5pm to 9pm for the “dinner shift.” Julie will work 7 hours during the day, but her shifts will be split.
In order to be a split shift, there has to be unpaid time off work between your designated working hours. The fact that consecutive shifts straddle multiple days by beginning late at night and ending early the next morning does not make...
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