When you have a business that requires overnight or weekend shifts, or you need to have someone on call for an emergency service request, you want to make sure that you are paying your employees fairly and in accordance with the law. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides guidance for these issues.
Sleep Time
FLSA rules for sleep time compensation depend specifically on the duration of an employee’s duty period.
On-Duty Time of Less than 24 Hours
If a non-exempt employee is on duty for less than 24 hours, the FLSA requires that they be paid for the entire shift, even during time spent sleeping or doing personal activities. For example, security guards on a 16-hour shift must be paid for the entire duration, even if they spend most of that time sleeping or watching TV between rounds. Because the shift is under 24 hours and they cannot leave the premises, the law considers them to be “on duty” the entire time. No deductions can be made for rest, as being present and available for work counts as paid time.
On-Duty Time of 24 Hours or More
For shifts of 24 hours or longer, employers may exclude a maximum of 8 hours for sleep from paid time only if there is a clear agreement between the employer and employee, plus adequate sleep facilities are provided. Any work interruptions during this period must be paid, and if these interruptions prevent the employee from getting at least 5 hours of sleep, the entire 8-hour shift becomes compensable.
On-Call Time
Under the FLSA, on-call time is only paid if the employees must stay at the worksite or respond so quickly that they cannot do normal things like run errands or watch a movie; the employees are engaged to wait and must be paid for every hour. However, if the employees are simply reachable by phone at home and can still go about the day’s leisure activities, or are monitoring a voicemail messaging system, the time is generally unpaid because they are simply waiting to be engaged. However, because this depends on specific factors like how many calls are received or travel distance, it is best to have a clear written policy in place.
In Conclusion
Though the FLSA provides these guidelines, both sleep time and on-call time can vary from industry to industry and by many other different factors. It is best to have clear written policies that are communicated to all employees in your company. In addition, the policies should be reviewed by an attorney for legal compliance. Our office can provide both policy and legal solutions for your business.