Q: I REGULARLY work 12 hours per day at a restaurant. My work day is divided into two shifts. My first shift is between 8 a.m. to 2 pm I have an unpaid break from 2 pm to 4 pm. Then I have to go back to work at 4 pm to 10 pm. I am paid only my regular hourly rate of $8 per hour for all the hours I work for that day. Am I entitled to overtime or additional pay?

A. Your employer gave you a split-shift schedule. A split-shift is "any employer-established work schedule interrupted by an unpaid non-working period, other than a bona fide rest or meal period." The way a split shift is set up is that employees are scheduled to work a number of hours and this is followed by a break usually lasting more than an hour. After the break, the employee is told to come back to work and work an additional number of hours.