splitting my work hours legal or not?

[rasczak]

There are some circumstances at home that have come up that may require me to work two 4 hour shifts two days out of the week. I am an hourly employee. The hours would be as follows, mw 5-8am "long break" 4:30-9:30pm. Being is california, would this be legal if I asked for this arrangement? Or as an hourly employee am I supposed to work 8 straight hours?

Location is California.

 

[Gooberlx2]

So long as your employer agrees to it, I don't see a problem. I've never heard of CA having restrictive rules regarding which hours/shifts are worked, assuming laws (if any) for breaks and OT are followed.

 

[Matthiasa]

Why wouldn't it be legal?
The real trick will be getting your employer to go along with it.

 

[SandEagle]

ask HR

 

[Trey22]

I live in CA, and occasionally work a split shift (6-9a, 1-6p) w/ no problems.

 

[Mike Gayner]

WTF why would this be illegal? Of course it would be against your contract terms if you decided to do it unilaterally, but presumably you're going to try to strike an agreement with your employer.

 

[Evadman]

About 10 years ago when I was hourly, that was against employment law in my state, but only if the employer forced it. That is how I got out of the 4AM-6AM then 12 hour lunch then 6PM-1AM workday on Sundays.

 

[deadlyapp]

split shifts in california - You get paid for an 8 hour day but only work 7 hours. They were very restrictive and HATED us doing it when I worked for sears in california. I have no idea if this is only a sears policy, but I assume it's a california wide thing.

Edit: Now there's no legal restriction if you say - Take a long lunch. We'd occasionally do that to get around the split shift thing.

 

[BoomerD]

Split shifts are legal in Kahleeforneeya, but there are restrictions and pay requirements. In your case, the greater difficulty would be getting the employer to agree.

 

[lurk3r]

There may be restrictions to what they can FORCE you to do, you can accept any terms like this if you choose (eg overtime restrictions)

 

[bruceb]

As long as your immediate boss and the person you are split-shifting with have no qualms and there is no financial incentive to either party, you should be ok.