Overview
New York State and California's Split Shifts rule entitles workers in certain industries 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 state minimum wage, or the local minimum wage if there is one, whichever is greater.
If an employee earns more than the minimum wage, any amount earned over and above the applicable minimum wage will be credited towards the employer's obligation to pay the split shift premium.
If you are unsure whether this rule applies to your business, consult your payroll advisor or refer to the applicable law:
Availability
The Split Shifts compliance rule is a Premium feature, available to all Premium SocialSchedules accounts.
What is a split shift?
A split shift is when an employee has two shifts that are interrupted by non-paid and non-working time periods established by the employer. The break between shifts must be more than one hour and fall within the same workday.
Example: An employee works 10:00 am – 1:30 pm, then returns at 4:00 pm for a second shift. The 2.5-hour break between shifts qualifies as a split shift.
A workday is a consecutive 24-hour period that begins at the same time each day. This may vary by employee. SocialSchedules uses the employee's start time of day, as set on their employee profile, to define their workday.
Example: If an employee's start time of day is 4:00 am, their workday runs from 4:00 am to 3:59:59 am the following day.
How is the payment calculated?
When an employee works a split shift, they are entitled to 1 additional hour of pay at the applicable minimum wage rate.
If the employee earns minimum wage:
The premium is one hour at the state or local minimum wage, whichever is greater.
Example: Jane works a split shift of 3 hours, a 2-hour break, and then 3 hours. She earns $16.50/hour (minimum wage). Her payment for the day = 6 × $16.50 (actual work) + $16.50 (split shift premium) = $115.50.
If the employee earns more than minimum wage:
Any amount earned above the applicable minimum wage is credited towards the split shift premium. If the credit exceeds the premium, no additional payment is due.
Example: Tim works a split shift of 4 hours, a 2-hour break, and then 4 hours. He earns $18/hour — $1.50/hour above the minimum wage of $16.50. His payment for the day = 8 × $18 (actual work) + $16.50 − (8 × $1.50) (split shift premium differential) = $148.50.
Example: Sally earns $25/hour. The local minimum wage is $20/hour. She works 6:00 am – 12:00 pm and then 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm (10 hours total). Her regular earnings are 10 × $25 = $250 — $50 more than if she earned minimum wage. As this exceeds the $20 split shift premium, no additional payment is due.
Configuring Split Shifts in SocialSchedules
To set up the Split Shifts rule:
Go to Settings > Compliance > Additional pay rules.
Toggle the rule on using the switch next to Split shifts.
Set an export code if you use payroll export (the default code is SPTS01).
Under Warnings & restrictions, choose how SocialSchedules should respond when the rule is triggered:
Take no action — the rule is tracked but no alert is shown.
Mark as warning in shifts and timecards (recommended) — a warning is displayed so managers can review.
Restrict from schedule — prevents shifts from being scheduled that would trigger the rule.
Click Done to save.
Setting the minimum wage
The minimum wage used in this rule must be set on the Additional pay rules screen. If you have locations with different minimum wages, you'll need to create a separate compliance group for each one.