Should an employee be paid for time spent on phone calls from their employor?
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Should an employee be paid for time spent on phone calls from their employor?
My husband works 40 hours a week but he has a work phone. They call him all night and if he doesn’t answer he gets in trouble but they don’t pay him for that.
Asked on February 29, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Is he a salaried or hourly employee? If he is hourly, he must be paid for all hours worked, whether onsite or offsite, and whether during normal work hours or after. So if he's an hourly employee, if he spends, say, 20 minutes on the phone with his employer at night, he should be paid for another 1/3 of an hour. (And this time would also count towards overtime.)
Salaried employees, however, are not paid extra for working after hours, on weekends or holidays, etc. They have to do as much work as the employer asks them to, without additional compensation.
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