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Library - Employment Law
Wage Claims, Overtime & Other Employee Compensation
DETERMINING AN EMPLOYEE’S COMPENSABLE HOURS
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Q:
Because of the
economy, I know a lot of people who are getting laid off
from work. I might soon be one of them. I am an hourly
employee assigned to irregular schedules and I have
always felt that I have not been paid for all the hours
I worked. I have never before complained because I need
the job. But since I’m going to be laid off, I believe I
should collect what is rightfully due to me. So how do I
determine which of my hours should be paid by my
employer? |
A:
You must first determine what your
work hours are to determine if your employer owes you additional
compensation. Even if your schedule varies from day to day, there
are still ways to determine whether you are working during any given
day. The time you spend working is “work time” and must, therefore,
be paid.
“Work time” is basically the time an employee spends on
activities that are controlled by and for the benefit of the
employer. This includes all the time that you are required to be
present at the workplace. It also includes your regular
“on-the-clock” hours as well as any “off-the-clock” time you spend
performing job-related activities which benefit your employer.
Off-the-Clock Work
Off-the-clock work is performed before or after the
designated shift time. For example, employees may “come early” and
start working before their official starting time. Or, after the
shift, employees may spend time cleaning equipment, or doing “on the
way home” activities such as dropping off mail at the post office or
delivering some paperwork to a customer. Off-the-clock work may also
consist of an extra work hour per day whose value may be significant
if the practice persisted for years. An employee who is paid $15 per
hour and has accumulated off-the-clock work hours at an average of
one hour per day for the last four years may potentially have a wage
claim of about $20,000.
Lectures, Meetings and Training Programs
Employees who attend lectures, meetings, and training
programs must be paid for the time they do so if all of the
following factors are present:
1) Attendance is during the employee’s working hours;
2) Attendance is mandatory or required or the employee
is made to understand that non-attendance would adversely affect the
employee’s employment;
3) The program is directly related to the employee’s
job with the primary purpose of making the employee more efficient
at doing his present job; and
4) The employee is performing productive work during
attendance at the program.
On-Call Time
Employees who are “on-call” after their regular work
hours may be compensated for work time provided that the employee is
restricted while on-call so as to disallow personal pursuits. Some
factors to determine whether the employee is restricted or not
include:
a) the frequency of the calls received
b) the expected response time
c) the length of time worked when called
d) any restrictions on how far an employee may travel
away from home, and
e) the ability of the employee to switch shifts
Travel Time
An employee’s commute to work is normally not
considered work time. However, when the employee is given a special
assignment that requires the employee to travel, such travel time is
considered work time, although the employer may deduct or discount
the time the employee would normally spend commuting to the regular
work site.
If travel is part of the employee’s job, such as travel
from job site to job site during the workday, such travel time is
work time and must be counted as hours worked. Or if the employee is
required to travel to another location in order to work at a
different location, the travel time from one location to the next is
paid work time.
Travel away from home is clearly work time when it cuts
across the employee's workday. The time is not only hours worked on
regular working days during normal working hours but also during
corresponding hours on nonworking days.
In determining their work hours and the payment due to
them, employees should not be deterred by words like “voluntary,”
“unauthorized” or “unapproved.” Work performed voluntarily, or
without authorization or approval, may still be compensable if the
employer knows or should know work is being done and permits the
employee to do it. In addition, all the time spent performing
work-related activities permitted by the employer is work time,
whether the work is “required” by the employer or not. These would
include work performed at the employer's premises or work performed
“at home” or at another place that is not the usual work site.
Employers who accept the benefits of the work performed by its
non-exempt employees must pay the wages due to the employees. ©
©
Law Offices C. Joe Sayas, Jr.
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