Cali Labor Laws

Factual Questions
1

Ok so I am being scheduled for a double shift in 2 weeks because the night shift guy is going on vacation. That means, my coworker and I have to cover both the night and day shifts alone. One person works 9am - 5pm, the other person works 1am - 9:30am.

Here’s the problem: We cannot pick one shift and stick to it for the entire 8 business days that we are covering. The reason for this is because my coworker is a single parent and has commitments to take his daughter to school on some days. I got screwed:

On Wednesday I come in and work a “normal” day shift from 9am - 5pm.
I then RETURN that evening, technically on Thursday morning, and work the night shift from 1:30am - 9:30am (with 1hr lunch break). I will be working two full 8-hour shifts within a 24 hour period! With only an 8 hour break in between to commute home, eat, sleep, get ready for work again, and commute back. That leaves me maybe 4 hours of sleep if I’m lucky. How can this be legal?!

I did some research and I am going to get fucked, I think.

The beginning of a work day at my office is technically 12:01am. So that means, on Wednesday I will work 9am - 5pm, and because I do not return until 1:30am on Thursday, I will have passed the “mark” that indicates a new day. There has GOT to be some kind of law that should also state that you should be compensated for overtime if you work two full shifts within 24 hours, right? Shouldn’t there?!

2

Back in my college days, I had several shifts like this at the Mickey D’s (emergency situations). I think technically, you would be screwed, since there is 8 hours between shifts. From http://www.laborlawtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-511.html it seems that California law has no law requiring a specific amount of time between shifts.

Is there a chance your boss/work situation would allow slightly changing the start and endtimes?

3

I don’t know anything about the legalities, but if I understand things correctly,
both you and your co-worker will not know whether you’re coming or going after
two weeks.

Multiple, rotating split shifts if that’s the right description, will really screw up your sleep cycle. Your time available for sleep will swing from 8 to 24 hours and at different times of the day, then throw in weekends. Maybe now is the time for you to take your vacation. At least that would permit your co-worker and the swing shift guy to have fixed 12 hour schedules for two weeks.

4

I fail to understand how you’re getting screwed… it’s the next day, right? What am I missing here? This is perfectly normal practice just about anywhere in the states. And if it would be prohibted anywhere, it would be prohibited in the UAW, and as I say, it’s fine.