I'm wondering if anybody knows if this is legal... I work at a major electronics retailer in California as an hourly + commission sales associate. My employer quite often schedules some of us to close one day and open the next (get out of work around midnight, 1am, and have to be back at work at 7am the next morning). By my calculations, my employer does not give us a full eight hours between shifts. Quite often, when this situation occurs, we are not given enough time to sleep between shifts. Even worse, some of us have to drive quite a distance to get home (I am one of these people), and I have fallen asleep behind the wheel of my car a couple of times. This type of situation is dangerous not only to me driving to/from work, but also to those driving around me. If I fall asleep while driving (due to exhaustion from work) and cause an accident, what is my legal obligation? My employer's? Who's responsible? Is 3-4 hours' sleep legal?

California law does not require a certain number of hours between shifts. Perhaps it would be worth looking into an inexpensive motel or a colleague's couch for your sleep requirements. It is not your employer's choice that you live quite a ways from work.