Is it legal for an employer in California to change the beginning of the work week every pay perion.?

Question

I work a rotating shift at a plant. We work 7 days in a row and then depending on which shift you are going to next have either one or 3 days off. My concern is...they are not paying us what we deserve by working us that 7th day. They think they are getting around this by starting each shift so that you never work more than 5days during the regular work week Sun to Sat.

Example...

Day shift always starts on Saturday

Swing shift always starts on Tuesday

Grave shift always starts on Thursday

So your never working more than 5 days in any work week but your always working 7days straight.

Shouldn't we be getting paid overtime for that 7th day according to the 7th day rule?

Answer 1

I'm not sure what the 7th day rule is. If there is such a thing it must be a state law.

The 7 day work week is per employee. So they need to define a work week that starts on a particular day and time, then exactly 7 days later it ends. It usually is 7 days, beginning on 12:00am the morning of the first day and ending at 11:59pm the night of the last day, but there is no rule that says it can't be a different time.

However your schedule does sound pretty fishy. I recommend calling your state department of labor and industries and explain the situation in more detail and if they are in fact breaking any laws, file an anonymouss complaint.  

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure Cali is a "right to work" state.  Which basically means, if you don't like the conditions, work somewhere else.  They're constantly s******g people over in these kinds of states.

Answer 3

You need to call the Labor Board and have someone evaluate the situation based on specifics (number of hours, dates, etc.) It does indeed sounds like something odd is going on, but difficult to say based on the general info you give.

It is likely that your employer has three different "start of work week" days for the purposes of payroll. Again, I can't say.

Look in the blue pages in the center of the phone book under the state listings for the local number for the Labor Board. They can give you a definitive answer and investigate as needed.