Work Time Series

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By Dana Peterson and David Rosenberg

In today’s increasingly mobile workplace, employers often require their non-exempt employees to head out of the office for such things as client meetings, off-site events and training.  Understanding when you must pay employees when they’re on the move might help you avoid a train wreck down the road (pun intended.)

The basics.  If you’ve been following our blog with any regularity, the following should come as no surprise: when determining whether travel time is compensable, the applicable California and federal standards differ quite a bit.   For instance, federal law defines “hours worked” as: (a) all time during which an employee is required to be on duty or be on the premises or workplace of the employer, and (b) all time during which an employee is “suffered or permitted to work,” whether or not the employee is required to do so.

By contrast, California defines the term “hours worked” as “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, and includes all time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.”  I.W.C. Wage Orders, Section 2 (emphasis added).  Therefore, employees must be compensated for time that they are “subject to the control” of the employer, even if they are not “suffered or permitted to work” during that time. 

Enough with the legal jargon, when do I need to pay for travel time?
Continue Reading When Hitting the Road is Hitting your Pocketbook: Travel Time Rules in California

By Brian P. Long

It is a fairly common practice for companies to have non-exempt employees available by phone at the drop of a hat to respond to emergencies and other unexpected business needs.  Yet, if the employee doesn’t actually respond to any phone calls or do anything during that time period, is the company still required to pay them for the mere possibility that their services may at some point be needed?

Any time during which employees are subject to control by the company may be “hours worked,” even though the employees don’t actually perform any work and possibly even if they are able to spend the time doing whatever they choose.

So how do companies know if the employee is under their “control” during on-call/standby time?  Like many other areas of California employment law, whether the answer to this question is yes or no turns on the employee’s specific situation.

There have to be some general rules, right?  Non-exempt employees may be on-call during unscheduled work hours to respond to calls for help from work.  On-call time can be either controlled or uncontrolled, depending on how restricted the employee is in being able to utilize the time for personal pursuits.

To be controlled or uncontrolled: That is the question.  Of course, because this is California, there is no hard and fast rule about how many times an employee’s day or evening must be interrupted or for how long that interruption can last before all of the on-call time (not just the time the employee spent dealing with the interruption) rolls into the controlled category as opposed to uncontrolled.  Factors that are considered include:
Continue Reading On Call vs. On Duty: I’m About to Lose Control and I Think I Like It!

By Chris Crosman

Reporting time pay is one of the provisions of California wage and hour law that is often overlooked by employers.  The requirement to pay reporting time is set forth in Section 5 of all but one of the 17 Wage Orders, and it guarantees workers that they will be paid for at least half of their scheduled …
Continue Reading Time is Money: Reporting Time Rules in California