California Reporting Time Pay
Each workday an employee is required to report to work, but is not put to work or is furnished with less than half of his or her usual or scheduled day’s work, the employee must be paid for half the usual or scheduled day’s work, but not less than two hours and not more than four hours, at the employee’s regular rate of pay.
If an employee is required to report to work a second time in any one workday and is furnished less than two hours of work on the second reporting, he or she must be paid for two hours at his or her regular rate of pay.
Reporting time pay is a penalty to the employer and not compensation for work performed. As such, it is not counted for purposes of determining whether an employee must be paid overtime.
Outside of the exceptions noted below, reporting time pay is required regardless of the reason the employee was not put to work.
No reporting time pay is due:
- When the employer’s operations cannot begin or continue due to threats to employees or property, or when civil authorities recommend that work not begin or continue.
- When public utilities fail to supply electricity, water, or gas, or there is a failure in the public utilities, or sewer system.
- When the interruption of work is caused by an Act of God or other cause not within the employer’s control, for example, an earthquake.
California Split-Shift Pay
Workers who earn the minimum wage are entitled to additional pay known as a “split shift premium” when their schedule includes a split shift. The premium is equal to one hour of pay at the rate of the minimum wage.
An employee who is paid more than minimum wage may also be due a split shift premium, however, the greater the wage the lower the premium will be.
California Predictive Scheduling
California does not have a state-wide predictive scheduling law. Predictive scheduling laws in Berkeley, Emeryville, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose are discussed below.
Covered Employers:
Employers that employ at least 10 employees in Berkeley and are:
- in the building services, healthcare, hotel, manufacturing, retail, or warehouse services industries, and employ 56 or more employees globally; or
- in the restaurant industry, and employ 100 or more employees globally; or
- franchisees primarily engaged in the retail or restaurant industries and associated with a network of franchises with franchisees employing in the aggregate 100 or more employees globally; or
- not-for-profit corporations in the industries specified above which employ 100 or more employees globally.
Covered Employees:
Any person who satisfies all of the following criteria:
- Works at least two hours in a calendar week in the city.
- Is entitled to minimum wage under state law.
- Is not exempt from overtime pay under state law.
- Is not paid a monthly salary equal to at least 40 hours a week at a rate of twice the city’s minimum wage.
Requirements as to Notice of Schedules:
Covered employers must:
- Provide employees with at least two weeks’ notice of their work schedules by:
- posting the schedule in a conspicuous place; or
- sending the schedule electronically if employees have electronic access in the workplace.
- Provide written notice of any change to an employee’s schedule within 24 hours of the change (not applicable to employee-initiated changes).
- Allow employees to decline previously unscheduled hours if:
- added to the employee’s schedule by the employer; and
- the employee receives less than 14 days’ advance notice of the additional hours.
Predictability Pay Requirements:
Covered employers must provide predictability pay for each shift if the employer adds or subtracts hours, moves or cancels a scheduled shift, or adds a previously unscheduled shift to an employee’s schedule, as follows:
- one hour of predictability pay if advance notice of the change is less than 14 days but at least 24 hours;
- if hours are canceled or reduced with less than 24 hours’ notice, the lesser of four hours of predictability pay or the reduced hours in the employee’s shift; and
- one hour of predictability pay for additions and all other changes with less than 24 hours’ notice.
Offer of Additional Hours and Right to Decline:
Covered employers must:
- Before hiring new employees, including temporary employees, offer additional hours to qualified, existing part-time employees who have worked for the employer for more than two weeks. Employers are not required to offer work hours that would be paid at a premium rate under state law or offer hours based on seniority. Offers must be made in writing or posted electronically or in a conspicuous location in the workplace.
- Allow part-time employees 24 hours to accept an offer of additional hours. The 24-hour period begins when an employee receives the written offer or the employer posts the offer, whichever is sooner. Acceptance must be in writing.
- Allow employees to decline work hours occurring less than 11 hours after the end of the previous shift. Employees must agree in writing and be paid 1.5 times their regular rate for any hours worked less than 11 hours after the end of the earlier shift.
- Allow employees to request a modified work schedule, including additional shifts or hours, changes in days of work or start and/or end times, permission to exchange shifts, job sharing, reduction or change in work duties, and more. Employers can accept, modify, or decline an employee’s request.
Exceptions:
Work schedule notice, right to decline an offer of new hours, and predictability pay are not required in certain circumstances, including when:
- Employees mutually agree to swap shifts or arrange coverage.
- An employee initiates voluntary shift modifications, such as a request to leave early or use sick or vacation leave.
- An employee works no more than 30 minutes past the end of a scheduled shift to complete service to a customer, if the employee is paid for the additional time.
- An employee begins or ends their shift no more than 10 minutes before or after their scheduled shift, if the employee is paid for any additional time.
- The employer’s operations cannot begin or continue because of a public utilities failure, acts of nature, or a recommendation by civil authorities that the employer suspend operations.
- In manufacturing, a reduction in the need for employees because of events outside the manufacturer’s control, such as a customer request to delay production or a delay in the receipt of raw materials.
- For healthcare employers, any:
- declared federal, state, or local disaster or other catastrophic event, implementation of the employer’s disaster plan, or incident causing activation of a hospital’s emergency operations plan that is reasonably expected to substantially affect or increase the need for healthcare services;
- circumstances where patient care needs require specialized skills through the completion of a procedure; or
- unexpected substantial increase in the demand for healthcare because of large public events, severe weather, violence, or other circumstances beyond the employer’s control.
Covered Employers:
- Retail employers with at least 56 employees worldwide.
- Fast food employers with at least:
- 56 employees worldwide; and
- 20 employees in the city.
- Certain franchisees.
Covered Employees:
Employees who meet all of the following criteria:
- Work at least two hours a week in the city.
- Are entitled to minimum wage under state law.
- Are nonexempt full- or part-time, temporary, on-call, contract, or seasonal employees.
- Work for a covered employer.
Requirements as to Notice of Schedules and Predictability Pay:
Covered employers must:
- Provide at least two weeks’ notice of work schedules (including on-call shifts) by, at least every 14 days:
- posting the work schedule; or
- sending the work schedule electronically (employees must have access to electronic schedules at work).
- For employer-initiated schedule changes after the schedule is posted (during the 14-day period):
- provide employees notice; and
- allow employees to decline if given less than 14 days’ notice; and
- pay predictability pay if less than 14 days’ notice (a higher rate applies if less than 24 hours).
Offer of Additional Hours and Right to Decline:
Covered employers must:
- Before adding new workers, offer in writing additional hours to part-time employees (until they reach 35 hours a week). Specific requirements apply to the content and method of posting the notice, the offer period, and employees’ written acceptance.
- For hours worked between closing and opening shifts separated by less than 11 hours:
- allow employees to decline those hours; and
- pay employees agreeing in writing to those hours 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for those hours (predictability pay may also apply).
- Allow employees to request in writing flexible work arrangements, including part-time employment. Employers must consider requests and respond in writing.
Exceptions:
Work schedule notice, right to decline, and predictability pay are not required when:
- Operations cannot begin or continue because of:
- threats to employers, employees, or property or on the recommendation of civil authorities;
- a public utilities failure; or
- acts of nature, war, civil unrest, strikes, or other cause not within the employer’s control.
- Employees agree to swap shifts.
- An employee works past the end of a shift to complete service if the additional time worked results in a commission, tip, or other incentive pay.
- An employee begins or ends their shift no more than 10 minutes before or after their scheduled shift, if the employee is paid for any additional time.
- An employee initiates shift changes, such as requests to leave before the end of a shift. Employee-initiated shift changes do not include employer requests for volunteers to leave early.
- An employee is entitled to overtime compensation that exceeds the predictability pay.
Covered Employers:
Any person who satisfies the following:
- Is identified as a retail business in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) in the retail trade categories and subcategories 44 through 45.
- Directly or indirectly exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of any employee.
- Has 300 employees globally, counting employees of any subsidiary that is a retail business and any person operating a franchise that is a retail business and is over 15,000 square feet.
Covered employees:
Any individual who satisfies the following:
- Works at least two hours in the city in a particular workweek.
- Is entitled to minimum wage under state law from any employer.
Requirements as to Notice of Schedules and Predictability Pay:
Covered employers must:
- Provide employees with written notice of their work schedule at least 14 calendar days before the start of the work period by either:
- posting the schedule in a conspicuous and accessible location; or
- sending the schedule electronically or another method that will provide actual notice to each employee.
- Provide written notice of any employer-initiated changes made fewer than 14 days before the start of the work period. Employees can decline any hours, shifts, or work location changes not included in their schedule. Voluntary consent must be in writing.
Predictability Pay Requirements:
Covered employers must pay predictability pay as follows:
- one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate for each change to a scheduled date, time, or location that does not result in a loss of time or additional work time of more than 15 minutes; and
- one-half the employee’s regular rate for time an employee does not work if the employer reduces their scheduled hours by at least 15 minutes.
Offer of Additional Hours and Right to Decline:
Covered employers must:
- Before hiring a new employee or using a contractor, temporary service or staffing agency, offer additional work to current employees, either in writing or by posting the offer in a conspicuous location, if:
- one or more current employees is qualified for the work; and
- the additional work hours would not result in premium pay under state law.
- Wait 72 hours after making an offer of additional hours before hiring a new employee or contractor. After receiving the offer, current employees have 48 hours to accept in writing. Predictability pay is not available to employees who accept an offer of additional hours.
- Not require employees to find coverage for all or part of a shift if they are unable to work for any protected reason.
- Not schedule an employee to work a shift that starts less than 10 hours from the employee’s last shift without the employee’s written consent. Employees are entitled to time and a half for each shift not separated by at least 10 hours.
- Allow employees to request a preference for certain hours, times, or locations of work. Employers can accept or decline the request if they notify the employee in writing of the reason for any denial.
Exceptions:
Predictability pay is not required if:
- An employee initiates the change.
- An employee accepts an employer-initiated schedule change because another scheduled employee is absent. Employers must notify employees that acceptance is voluntary and they can decline.
- An employee accepts the employer’s offer of additional hours.
- An employee’s hours are reduced because they violated existing law or the employer’s lawful policies and procedures.
- The employer’s operations are compromised pursuant to law or force majeure.
- Extra hours worked require overtime premium pay under state law.
Covered Employers:
- Owners or operators of chain stores with at least:
- 40 stores worldwide; and
- 20 employees in the city.
- Janitorial and security contractors for any covered chain store.
Covered Employees:
Any person:
- working (or on-call) at least two hours in the city in a week; and
- qualifying as a nonexempt employee entitled to minimum wage under state law.
Requirements:
Employers must:
- Provide two weeks’ notice of work schedules (including on-call shifts), posted in the workplace or electronically (employees must have access to electronic schedules at work) at least every 14 days.
- For employer-initiated schedule changes:
- provide notice; and
- if less than 7 days’ notice, pay a premium of one to four hours of pay.
- Provide premium pay for on-call shifts when the employee is not called in to work.
- Before adding new workers, offer in writing additional hours to part-time employees (until they reach 35 hours a week).
Exceptions:
Predictability pay and pay for on-call shifts is not required when:
- Operations cannot begin or continue because of:
- threats to employees or property;
- the recommendations of civil authorities;
- a public utilities failure; or
- an act of God or other cause not within the employer’s control.
- An employee previously scheduled to work:
- cannot work because of illness, vacation, or employer-provided paid or unpaid time off and the employer did not receive at least 7 days’ notice; and
- has not reported to work on time, is fired, or is sent home or told to stay home as a disciplinary action.
- The employer requires an employee to work overtime.
- Employees trade shifts.
- An employee requests changes to their hours, shifts, or schedule.
Covered Employers:
Any person who:
- Directly or indirectly, including through a temporary employment agency, exercises control over any employee’s wages, hours, or working conditions; and
- Is either subject to the city’s business license tax requirements; or has a place of business in the city.
Covered Employees:
Any person who:
- In a calendar week performs at least two hours of work for a covered employer.
- Qualifies as either:
- an employee entitled to minimum wage under state law; or
- a welfare-to-work program participant (program participants may opt out of coverage in writing).
Requirements:
Covered employers must:
- Before hiring additional employees or subcontractors, including through a temporary staffing agency, offer additional hours of work to qualified existing part-time employees.
- Use:
- good faith and reasonable judgment to determine if an existing employee is qualified; and
- a transparent and nondiscriminatory process to distribute those work hours.
Exceptions:
Employers are not required to offer existing employees work hours if the employer must pay either:
- Overtime compensation.
- Other premiums under any law or collective bargaining agreement.
The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only.
It does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.