Q: Can a business get around paying you for "on-call time worked", by paying a minimal amount while waiting to engage?
I get payed $2 an hour after hours to stay by the phone and be accessible remotely 24/7 every other week. I am hourly payed in order to do this. Some calls last a couple minuets while others last hours, sometimes more then half the night. At which case I'm supposed to get up and be at the office in the morning. I'm required to stay in the area in case I need to travel onsite, and I'm tied to the phones and cannot make use of my time be it sleeping or with my family. I've been doing this for 3 years now only getting paid $2 /hr. Last night I was up working nearly all night from about 10pm to 6.30 this morning I only slept a little over an hour and half of sleep in that time from 10 to 6 and had to be at the office by 8. I made $16 that will be taxed. this happens about twice a month. I've asked about compensation but they say no this is how we do things, is this legal? Should I be able to clock in and count time as worked if its more then a a short 1-2 min phone call.
A: Your employer is required to pay you at least minimum wage for all hours spent performing compensable work. The question of whether an employee is performing compensable work during on-call time depends on the degree to which the employee may use the time for their own personal activities. The key question is whether your on-call time is spent predominantly for your employer's benefit or for your own benefit. Courts weigh several factors to make this determination, including: (1) the frequency of the calls to the on-call employee; (2) geographical restrictions on the employee's movements; (3) the restrictiveness of fixed time limits for response; (4) the threat of discipline in the event of a late or no response from the on-call employee; (5) the on-call employee's ability to trade his responsibilities with another employee; (6) the on-call employee's actual pursuit of or engagement in personal activities; and (7) the benefit of the on-call time to the employer. More information about your responsibilities is required here, but if your on-call time is predominantly for your employer's benefit, then it must pay you at least minimum wage for this time.
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