California Labor laws give a different set of overtime rules to “ambulance drivers and attendants” who work 24-hours shifts, than the rest of the California work force. Under certain circumstances, the rule allows employers to schedule ambulance drivers to work 24 hours without paying daily overtime pay. The California law states:

“The daily overtime provision of subsection (A) above shall not apply to ambulance drivers and attendants scheduled for 24-hour shifts of duty who have agreed in writing to exclude from daily time worked not more than three (3) meal periods of not more than one (1) hour each and a regularly scheduled uninterrupted sleeping period of not more than eight (8) hours. The employer shall provide adequate dormitory and kitchen facilities for employees on such a schedule.”

In other words, if all the following circumstances are met then the ambulance driver need only be paid for 13 hours:

• Cannot exceed 3 hours of meal periods, of which are not more than 1 hour each
• Not more than 8 hours of regularly scheduled uninterrupted sleep period.
• a written agreement to this effect

It is important to note that this exemption to overtime applies to California daily overtime (for more than 8 hours a work day) but not to California weekly overtime (for more than 40 hours a work week).

In order for the employer to be able to save money by saving overtime hours, the employers must meet the terms of the 24-hour shift rule. For instance, if the sleep time is “on call” instead of scheduled to be uninterrupted, then the employer is not in compliance. If there has not been a written agreement between both parties, then the employer is not in compliance. If the employer is not in compliance then they will be forced to pay its ambulance drivers daily overtime for the entire 24-hour shift.

Aguilar v. Association for Retarded Citizens is a perfect example of what happens when an employer fails to comply with the 24-hour shift rule is. In Aguilar, the ambulance drivers were scheduled to work 24-hour shifts, but the employer would“temporarily released them” for a few hours each day to let them to pursue their personal matters. Basically, they did not work a complete 24-hour shift. The employer had to pay the employees for all hours worked, including overtime pay. To paraphrase, the court reasoned:

The IWC Wage Order outlines the difference between ambulance drivers that work 24-hour shifts and those who work less than 24-hour shifts. The Wage Furthermore wage order affords an exemption from compensation for sleep time only, for ambulance drivers that work 24-hour shifts. It has been made obvious the ambulance drivers here do not work 24-hour shifts.

If you are an ambulance driver, ambulance attendant or EMT and you feel you have not been compensated properly for your 24 hours shifts please contact an experience San Jose Labor Law attorney to review your potential case.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Zoran Orcik

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