Defining split shift regulations in California

A time and attendance lawsuit in California raised the question of whether overnight shifts qualify for split-shift pay, BLR reports.

Three employees of Securitas Security Services USA filed a class action lawsuit against the company, claiming that they were owed split-shift pay under the state's employee attendance legislation because they worked shifts that began on one day and ended on another.

Securitas argued that because the workers' shifts were uninterrupted, they did not qualify as split despite falling over two calendar days and two workdays.

BLR notes that under state law, employees who have a work schedule that is "interrupted by non-paid non-working periods established by the employer" must be paid an additional hour of wages.

The trial court drew upon the definition of a split shift in California Wage Orders and ruled that these occur when employees work "two nonconsecutive periods of time in the same workday." However, an appeals court ruled that interruptions between consecutive overnight shifts does not make them split.

In a separate case, the state's Supreme Court recently ruled that law clerks are exempt from FLSA overtime provisions because the nature of their work is primarily intellectual.