StatutePayFirst punch → last punch

California · IWC reporting time + split shift · statewide MW $16.90 (1 Jan 2026)

A four-hour unpaid hole is a California split. A thirty-minute bona fide meal is not.

8 CCR §§ 11040 / 11050 / 11070 § 4(C) pays one hour at the statewide minimum wage in addition to the minimum wage for that workday — a floor of (hours × MW) + 1 × MW, not DC’s extra hour stacked on $20 wages, and not New York spread-of-hours. § 5 reporting-time: half the usual or scheduled day, not less than 2 hours and not more than 4, at the regular rate; a second report the same workday furnished under 2 hours pays 2 hours at regular. The 2026 California statewide minimum wage on this page is $16.90 (DIR). Live-in employees are out of scope. Labor Code 226.7 rest is not this page.

Read the wage order: split is a floor, not a DC extra hour

Wage Orders 4, 5, and 7 (professional/clerical, public housekeeping including restaurants/hotels, mercantile): “When an employee works a split shift, one (1) hour’s pay at the minimum wage shall be paid in addition to the minimum wage for that workday, except when the employee resides at the place of employment.” Sources: 8 CCR § 11040, § 11050, § 11070. A split shift is a schedule interrupted by unpaid non-working periods the employer sets, other than bona fide rest or meal periods.

Load 7:00–11:00 and 15:00–19:00 at $20. Eight hours of wages are $160. The § 4(C) floor is 8 × $16.90 + $16.90 = $152.10. $160 already clears it, so the split line is $0 — the extra hour at MW is not cargo-culted on top of $20 the way DC 7 DCMR 906 adds $18.40. Load the same punches at $16.90 and the split line is $16.90. Load 7:00–11:00 and 11:30–15:30: same eight hours, 30-minute bona fide meal, no split.

7:00–11:00 and 15:00–19:00 @ $20 → 8h × $20 = $160; floor $152.10 → split $0
Same split @ $16.90 → 8h × $16.90 = $135.20 + $16.90 split = $152.10
7:00–11:00 and 11:30–15:30 → 8h, 30-min meal, no split
Scheduled 8h, furnished 1h @ $20 → 4h at regular ($20 + $60 reporting)
Second report same day furnished 1h → +2h floor at regular for that report

Statewide minimum wage $16.90 effective 1 January 2026: DIR Minimum Wage FAQ; DIR News 2025-118; IWC MW-2026. Fast-food and health-care industry minima and city rates are out of scope; this page uses the statewide figure.

Reporting-time is half the day, two to four hours, at regular

Section 5 and the DIR Reporting Time Pay FAQ: if you are required to report and you do report (the punches prove it) but you are not put to work or are furnished less than half your usual or scheduled day’s work, pay is half that day, not less than two hours and not more than four, at your regular rate (not less than MW). Scheduled 8 hours, furnished 1 hour at $20 is four paid hours at $20 — $20 wages + $60 reporting-time — not DC’s remainder-at-min-wage, not Rhode Island’s 3×, not Massachusetts’s 3 hours at $15. A second reporting the same workday furnished under two hours pays two hours at regular for that report (DIR FAQ Q9).

Reporting-time dollars are not hours worked and do not change overtime (Murphy; DIR FAQ Q6). Regularly scheduled shifts under two hours, and interruptions from threats, public-utility failure, or an Act of God, are § 5(C) exceptions (toggles, off by default).

In scope

  • Split definition: employer unpaid hole other than bona fide rest/meal (WO 4/5/7 § 2)
  • Split pay: 1 hour at CA MW ($16.90, 1 Jan 2026) in addition to the MW for that workday (§ 4(C) floor)
  • 30-minute bona fide meal clock-out is not a split; 4-hour employer gap is
  • Reporting-time: half scheduled, min 2 max 4 at regular rate (§ 5(A))
  • Second reporting same workday: 2-hour floor at regular (§ 5(B))
  • DIR Reporting Time Pay FAQ (Dec 2016; Murphy, Ward v. Tilly’s)
  • FLSA weekly 40 on hours worked

Out of scope

  • DC 7 DCMR 906 extra hour at DC min wage (different pay line)
  • New York 12 NYCRR 146-1.6 spread-of-hours
  • Labor Code 226.7 rest or meal premium (meal sits on the CA meal page)
  • Live-in split-shift exemption (§ 4(C))
  • Fast-food / health-care / city minimum wages as the split MW

FAQ

What is a California split shift under the IWC wage orders?

A split shift is a work schedule interrupted by unpaid non-working periods the employer sets, other than bona fide rest or meal periods (8 CCR §§ 11040(2), 11050(2), 11070(2)). Two punch pairs 7:00–11:00 and 15:00–19:00 (a 4-hour employer hole) are a split. 7:00–11:00 and 11:30–15:30 (a 30-minute bona fide meal) are not. This is not DC 7 DCMR 906 and not New York spread-of-hours.

How is the California split-shift premium calculated in 2026?

Section 4(C): when an employee works a split shift, one hour’s pay at the minimum wage is paid in addition to the minimum wage for that workday, except when the employee resides at the place of employment (out of scope). That is a daily earnings floor of (hours × MW) + 1 × MW. The 2026 statewide CA minimum wage is $16.90 (DIR MW-2026; DLSE Minimum Wage FAQ; DIR News 2025-118, effective 1 January 2026). Eight hours at $20 is $160, which already exceeds 8 × $16.90 + $16.90 = $152.10, so no extra dollar is stacked on top of the $20 wages — unlike DC, which always adds one hour at DC min wage.

What is California reporting-time pay?

Section 5: if the employee is required to report and does report, but is not put to work or is furnished less than half the usual or scheduled day’s work, pay half the usual or scheduled day, not less than 2 hours and not more than 4, at the regular rate (not less than minimum wage). A second reporting the same workday furnished less than 2 hours pays 2 hours at the regular rate. DIR Reporting Time Pay FAQ (citing Murphy and Ward v. Tilly’s).

Is this a Labor Code 226.7 rest premium?

No. Rest-period premiums under LC 226.7 and wage-order § 12 are not calculated on this page. Meal premiums sit on the California meal-break calculator. This page is IWC §§ 4(C) and 5 only.