This is a topic that doesn’t come up very often, but we felt that it was important. That’s the topic of unpaid vs. paid time. Meetings, training sessions, etc. are NOT paid hours when:
- Attendance is entirely outside working hours
- Attendance is voluntary
- Subject matter is not directly related to the employee’s job OR
- No productive work is performed
How do you determine whether or not time spent at a meeting benefits the employer?
- Does the time spent at the meeting coincide with scheduled hours during which the employee would normally be paid?
- Does the meeting’s content or purpose benefit your employer?
If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, it is paid time for non-exempt employees.
Here are a few examples of employee activities that many employees overlook as paid time:
- A nonexempt employee on vacation, or after work hours, uses a cell phone or mobile device to check in on a work project. This is paid time and must be included when computing overtime pay.
- A manager tells an employee to check in regularly while out sick or on vacation to see if his/her help is needed. This is paid time and must be included when computing overtime pay.
- An employee on a project just cannot stop work, so she uses her computer or mobile device evenings and weekends to keep the project going. This is paid time and must be included when computing overtime pay.
- Even times when employees are on call duty for less than 24 hours and may be watching TV or sleeping when not busy is paid time that must be included when computing overtime pay.
If you have any questions about paid vs. unpaid time, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bamboo Bookkeeping at 720-245-2575 or melissa@bamboobbookkeeping.net.