If sent home due to the office being closed due to unforeseen circumstances, am I entitled to compensation?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If sent home due to the office being closed due to unforeseen circumstances, am I entitled to compensation?
I am paid hourly. If I commute to work and the office is closed due to unforeseen circumstances without warning (a political protest), am I entitled to bill for part or the entire day?
Asked on October 25, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
You can only bill for any time actually spent at the office, working, unfortunately. While you obviously spent time traveling to and from the office, and it might seem fair to be compensated for that time, you (presumably) are not normally paid for your time communting to and from work. Similarly, the time to and from the closed office is not compensible. (Unless, that is, you *are* allowed to bill for that time--a company could elect to pay its employees for their commutes if it chose--and if so, follow your normal procedure.)
If you worked at home that day, you may be able to bill for the time spent working offsite--hourly workers need to be paid for all time spent working, regardless of locaton. The issue there would whether you company allows offsite work--if they asked you to work, that is clearly billable; but also, they have the right to not allow staff to work at home.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.