Is there a required time before an emplower can expect you to be back to work?
I work 12 hr shifts and am expected to be back to work after a 12 hr shift in 6.5 hrs from the time I clock out. I overslept the other day because it is difficult for me to go right to sleep when I get home. I need some time to unwind. I was threatened with suspension without pay. Is this legal?

Unfortunately, there are no restrictions, re: the time off between shifts, as far as federal law is concerned. Some states may have laws that are a little more protective.

What does exist is mandated overtime pay. Federal law mandates overtime after 40 hours in a week (for non-exempt staff). State law, once again, may have additional requirements that protect the employee.

A policy of very little time off between shifts is costly, in the long run, for your employer. In addition to potential overtime expenses, your employer also runs into the risk that you may cause an accident at work, due to your tired state of mind.

It is suggested that you talk with your manager, to see if he / she understands the difficulty you are in. Good luck and let me know if I can assist further.

I would like to clarify that in certain industries, such as the the truck driving industry, there is a MANDATORY maximum hours of drive/shift time allowed. It is currently a 14 hour shift, with 11 of those max. for driving and a 10 hour break in beween shifts.
What industry are you in? I will further investigate.
Best wishes.
Sue

Thanks Sue,
I am a treatment attendant at a state funded alcohol & drug residential
treatment facility. As far as the overtime pay it doesnt make for overtime the way it is set up. The issue I am concerned about is that I admit intoxicated,and people who are high on drugs, and many times they are threatening towards the staff that admit them. More times than not they are brought in by the police, who by the way, leave as soon as thay bring the clients to the door. Staff have been actually attacked by some of these clients, as at times as it is not uncommon for the client to be out of their head or not in touch with reality at the time of admit. Therefore it is considered a high risk job. I need to be as clear headed as possible in order to be able to deal with and react in a quick and appropiate manner. On the particular day that it is mandatory for me to come back in, after 6.5 hrs, I am frazzled and stressed out due to lack of sleep.
I have discussed this with my supervisor and the response I get is that I will just have to deal with it. I was suspended today because I overslept & was an hr late for work. This is not typical for me to do but it does happen to be the second time I did this, this month. I am so frustrated with this but cannot afford to lose my job. I was so hoping that I had some sort of legal protection.
Cheryl

I am sorry to hear about your situation, it sounds very stressful.

From what I can tell, there really is not much to protect you from long shifts with not much break, other then your employer's concern for your well-being.

Try this website for a start: http://www.amsa.org/hp/rwhefforts.cfm

it covers emergency room hours and such on a residency basis for state-to-state requirement for the few states that have guidelines in place for your line of work.

Also, take a look at : http://www.ewin.com/articles/restper.htm
just to get an idea of state laws for mandatory breaks, and time off.

Seems there is not much to protect you unless you live in Candada, in which case, most areas require an 11 hour break for each 24 hour period.

I wish you the best... keep us "posted."
Sue

Thank you so much Sue for the time you have taken with my situation.
It looks as if there is really nothing I can do. I do intent to go to the President of the company just to voice my feelings.
I am truly amazed that there is no law for protection. I wonder if there is some government agency that I could write to just see if they would look into it.

Again, thank you for your time and have a great day :-)
Cheryl

Regarding the violent people that you have to deal with. I believe that OSHA has violence in the workplace general duty rules that might apply to your situation. Thats not to say that OSHA is a good agency to call in due to its present condition but there is something to be said for informing a supervisor of the safety regulations

Sposito, perhaps you didn't notice that this thread is from 2004.

We ask people not to respond to dormant posts unless they either are the original poster with an update, or have a question about the specific law in the post.