My wife has recently started working as a floater pharmacist at one red-colored pharmacy chain in California. Just a side note, while my wife has worked there, she personally vaccinated more than 1000 people with Covid vaccines.


Her schedule is unpredictable and when the scheduler sends out a schedule for an upcoming month, my wife's schedule shows less hours in certain weeks than the amount that constitutes a full-time position (32 hours constitutes a full-time job, according to the policy of that pharmacy chain).


It has been indicated to her in work emails that she is expected to accept a last minute on-call shifts and she shall not have personal plans for days where she does not have scheduled in advance shifts, in case if she is needed to cover for someone else. It has also been alluded to her that if she were to refuse an on-call shift, she could potentially face certain consequences, including not being assigned to a single pharmacy with a more predictable schedule or a demotion to a part-time position.


I would like to know what rights my wife has as an employee of that company. The practices of her employer do seem very coercive to me. They expect their employees to have the "suck it up, soldier" attitude, without any regard for them as human beings.



What are the existing regulations and laws about on-call shifts in retail industry in California?