Have You Been Working “Off The Clock”?

If you were employed and you believe that you have not been paid all of the overtime pay, hourly wages, salary and other benefits that you believe you are owed by your employer, tell us your story!

-Report Unpaid Overtime & Wages-

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that all covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the minimum wage for all hours worked in their employ and that covered, nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours in the workweek (7 consecutive 24-hour periods or 168 consecutive hours) receive at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for the overtime hours (hours worked over 40 in a workweek).

What Does Employ Mean?

The FLSA defines the term “employ” to include the words “suffer or permit to work”. Suffer or permit to work means that if an employer requires or allows employees to work, the time spent is generally deemed to be hours worked.

What Is Working Off The Clock?

Time spent doing work not requested by the employer, but still allowed by the employer, is generally considered hours worked, since the employer knows or has reason to believe that the employees are continuing to work off the clock and the employer is benefiting from the work being done off the clock. This time is commonly referred to or known as “working off the clock.”

Common examples of working off the clock or hours worked under the FLSA (for which overtime pay is generally due) might include:

  • An employee who voluntarily continues to work at the end of regular working hours.
  • An employee who needs to finish an assigned task, prepare reports, finish waiting on a customer or take care of a patient in an emergency.
  • An employee who may take work home to complete in the evening or on weekends to meet a deadline.
  • An employee who checks, reads and/or reviews work-related emails (whether on a handheld PDA or wireless telephone device or on a home computer, etc.), or listens to work-related voicemail messages while away from the office or workplace
  • An employee who must correct mistakes in his or her work. The time must be treated as hours worked. The correction of errors, or “rework”, is hours worked, even when the employee voluntarily does the rework.
  • An employee who waits to do work. Time which an employee is required to be at work or allowed to work for his or her employer is hours worked. A person hired to do nothing or to do nothing but wait for something to do or something to happen is still working. Employees subject to the FLSA must be paid for all the time spent in physical or mental exertion (whether burdensome or not) controlled or required by the employer and pursued necessarily and primarily for the benefit of the employer of his business.
  • An employee who spends time putting on or taking off (i.e., donning and doffing) protecting gear, clothing or uniforms (e.g., anti-static smocks, goggles, shoe strips, and hand strips) and waiting in line to have the gear, clothing or uniforms checked before they began their shifts.
  • Hours worked off the clock include all the time during which an employee is required or allowed to perform work for an employer, regardless of where the work is done, whether on the employer’s premises, at a designated work place, at home or at some other location.

    It is the duty of management to exercise control over their employees and see that work is not performed off the clock if the employer does not want it to be performed. An employer cannot sit back and accept the benefits of an employee’s off the clock work without considering the time spent to be hours worked. Merely making a rule against such off the clock work is not enough. The employer has the power to enforce the off the clock rule and must make every effort to do so. Employees generally may not volunteer to perform work without the employer having to count the time as hours worked.

    –Contact An Overtime Pay Class Action Lawyer–

    If you were employed and you believe that you have not been paid all of the overtime pay, hourly wages, salary and other benefits that you believe you are due (or if you are just not sure and want to find out), contact an overtime pay class action lawyer:

    -Report Unpaid Overtime & Wages-

    You can also share your overtime pay and wage complaints, if any, with other off the clock workers and off the clock employees by leaving a public comment below.

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    -Report Unpaid Overtime & Wages-

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    This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Overtime Pay Violations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. By using this blog, you agree to the Terms and Conditions. Under the Terms and Conditions, you agree and understand that your use of this blog does not create an attorney-client relationship, and that the contents of the blog does not constitute legal advice. This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your state. Wronged by your Employer? Want to Fight Back? Contact A Class Action Attorney at www.ClassActionConnect.com.

    7 Responses to “Have You Been Working “Off The Clock”?”

    1. marlene horton says:

      workinng at dominos pizza as a delivery driver i am clocked out by my employer and not allowed to clock myself out , i ask what time im being paid till since it is different every night, 2-3 times a week i am told i am clocked out 15 min to half an hour before i am done and expected to finish my work, even though the manager leaves and is clocked off himself

    2. Ashley says:

      At our location, we are required to take the deposit to the bank after we have clocked out without any compensation for travel time or gas. We have been threatened with suspension and termination if we do not comply. I have already been written up once for not taking the deposit after closing.

    3. Lisa says:

      My employer expects me to work after I clock out to finish things we were to busy to get done during my shift. Also to come in early and work without clocking in so the person getting ready to leave can clock out on time. They expect all of us to do it. Some people don’t mind and they get mad at the one’s who don’t want to work for free.

    4. Jason says:

      Ive worked at my job for over 1 year now. For most of the time I worked 8 and 1/2 hours ever day but only recieved pay for 8. We were told that 1/2 hour taken out was our lunch break but when I tried to take one, I was told I cant. Since then we have changed to clocking out for lunch breaks. Now I am tol I get a 30 min lunch break every day. They tell me to clock out but I still work during the 30 mins and rarly get to go out and buy lunch.

    5. Denise Doles says:

      I constantly work off the clock. I am a non-exempt employee transitioning into a management position and feel “obligated” to give my best to the non-profit in which I work. I get there early, stay late, work through lunch and feel that my time should belong to me, and if I want to work–I should be able to work. My employer does have a policy of no overtime, but may enforce it upon me 10% of the time. The only drawback is that I haven’t worked there long enough to have seniority for a scheduled vacation–when I want to. I still am at their mercy there.

    6. Lisa says:

      I’m in training at a telemarketing company and was just told two days ago we now have to “memorize all scripts requested by Monday and if we did not know them by Wednesday, we’d be let go. We were told we needed to study over the weekend and know it. To me that is part of the job and the request to have this many pages memorized is ridiculous. Does this qualify as working off the clock. I have a newborn baby at home and this is a little much for me, but I need the job.

    7. Marquetta says:

      I work at a childcare facility. Recently we have been told that we can take a lunch break, but we can not leave the premises. That’s fine. The thing that I wonder about is if it’s legal since we have to clock out for our lunch. Is it legal to make your employees stay on the premises for their lunch break if they are off of the clock?

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