In Pennsylvania does my company have to pay me for mandatory training?
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In Pennsylvania does my company have to pay me for mandatory training?
I live and work in Pennsylvania. I work for a company, Capgemini, who I believe is a French company but until April 2018 it was an American company, Liquid Hub. I am a contractor for a company in Malvern,PA but am a full time employee for my company. We have in the first 3 months of 2109 at least 6 mandatory training videos at least 45 minutes each we need to watch and take a test after. Obviously I can’t take these at the company I contract for. In the past I worked for at least 3 companies who insisted you take the course on company time and/or put it on your time sheet and would get paid for it. I asked my boss how I should put it on my time sheet. After 4 emails he said he sent the question to HR but that he and moth others have absorbed this in their own time. My question is do they have a legal right to pay me for this? And if I push the matter and get fired can I have a case against them? They are mandatory and we are told we need to complete them. For the record I don’t remember any indication where they stated we were to have mandatory training and not get paid for it.
Asked on March 25, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Assuing that you are paid hourly, then since your employer is requiring that you attend this training and it is for their benefit that you be trained, then such time is compensable. In other words, you have to be paid for it. Further, if you lose your job because you want to paid for this time, then you can sue your employer for wrongful termination.
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Mandatory training, since done at your employer's instructions and for their benefit, is work time: anything the employer requires you to do is considered work. If you are an hourly (that is, not salaried) employees you must be paid for all work time, including mandatory training time (and also it will be counted among your hours that week for purposes of determining overtime). If fired because you request pay to which you are legally entitled you would have a wrongful termination claim.
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