• California's agricultural workers may receive extra pay for working split shifts.Tractor Combine Loading Truck image by bawinner from Fotolia.com
  
  California labor law defines a split-shift as any work day interrupted by a period of unpaid time other than the normal lunch or break periods. The law does not specify how long the unpaid interruption must be for the shift to be considered "split." Under California's regulations, employees working a split shift may be entitled to special "split-shift pay," depending on the employee's salary and job category.
  
  

Split-shift Overtime

• According to California's Labor Code, a work day is defined as eight hours of work within any regularly occurring 24-hour period. The law does not specify consecutive hours. Split-shift work in excess of eight hours in a workday requires overtime pay at the rate of 1-1/2 times the usual hourly rate. Exceptions apply for specialized groups with labor-management agreements regarding split-shift hours and overtime.
  
  

Agricultural Workers

• The Industrial Welfare Commission sets rules regarding wages, hours and working conditions for agricultural employees. The regulations do not apply to management or administrative personnel. Agricultural employees include all workers who do any work connected to preparing farmland for use, growing or tending crops and harvesting and preparing crops for shipment to market. Agricultural employees who work a split shift must receive an extra hour's pay at the minimum wage level for any day they work a split shift, unless they live on the ranch or farm. The additional hour of pay applies to workers receiving minimum hourly pay rate. The work order requires employers to keep records of work done.
  
  

General Work Categories

• Industrial Work Order 4-2001, effective January 2001, covers a large category of California workers, from restaurant servers and domestic employees to agents, bookkeepers editors, typists and social workers who receive minimum wages. If any of these employees work a split shift employers must pay them an additional hour of pay at the minimum-pay rate. This additional hour of pay does not apply to employees who work in managerial or administrative positions, or who earn at least twice the monthly rate for a full-time employee earning minimum pay.
  
  

Split-Shift Case Law

• The 2008 ruling against Radio Shack established that the extra hour of pay for workers who do a split-shift, referred to by the court as premium pay, is considered wages, not a penalty, and is protected by all the California labor codes that cover wages. Employees can recover wages, interest and attorney's fees if they must sue an employer to receive the extra hour of pay for working a split shift. The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision in April 2010, creating a precedent for employees who want to claim the unpaid hour of split-shift pay.