Your Employer Must Pay for This: FLSA Rules on Training, Meetings, On-Call, and Waiting Time

Workers are generally entitled to pay for time their employer requires them to work, even when they are not actively performing their primary duties. That can include mandatory training, pre-shift meetings, certain on-call periods, and waiting time between assignments. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines employment broadly, but whether particular time is compensable depends on the circumstances and applicable law.

The Foundation: “Suffer or Permit to Work”

The FLSA defines “employ” to include “to suffer or permit to work.” 29 U.S.C. § 203(g)(opens in new tab). In general, this means an employer may have to pay for work it requires, knows about, or allows—even when that time is not spent actively producing.

This principle is important when evaluating training, meetings, on-call duty, and waiting time. Each category has specific rules, and the outcome depends on the facts of the employment relationship.

Training and Educational Time

Employer-required training, lectures, meetings, and similar activities generally count as paid work time. Under 29 C.F.R. § 785.27(opens in new tab), training may be excluded only when all four of these conditions are met:

• It occurs outside the employee’s regular working hours.
• Attendance is genuinely voluntary.
• The training is not directly related to the employee’s job.
• The employee performs no productive work during it.

If any one of these conditions is not satisfied, the time generally must be treated as work time under the FLSA. Many workplace training programs therefore qualify as compensable because they are required, job-related, or performed during working hours.

When Is Training Really Voluntary?

Calling training “optional” does not necessarily make it voluntary. The regulation provides that training is not voluntary when an employee is led to believe that nonattendance could adversely affect working conditions or continued employment.

Required onboarding, safety training, compliance courses, certification programs, equipment instruction, and job-specific online modules may therefore constitute paid work time. Required study or preparation may also be compensable when it is part of required training.

There are limited exceptions for certain courses attended voluntarily at independent educational institutions or programs that meet specific regulatory requirements. Those situations should be evaluated based on the particular facts.

Mandatory Meetings and Pre-Shift Huddles

Required meetings are generally subject to the same basic principles as training. Pre-shift huddles, safety briefings, team meetings, and assignment meetings may all be compensable work time.

A short meeting can add up. For example, a 10-minute mandatory huddle each workday amounts to more than 40 hours over a year. If unpaid meeting time causes total hours worked to exceed 40 in a workweek, overtime may also be owed to a nonexempt employee.

On-Call Time

On-call time is more fact-specific. The Supreme Court’s decisions in Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134 (1944), and Armour & Co. v. Wantock, 323 U.S. 126 (1944), distinguish between time when an employee is “engaged to wait” and time when the employee is simply “waiting to be engaged.”

Time spent waiting generally is compensable when the employee’s readiness to respond is itself part of the job and the employer’s restrictions significantly limit the employee’s ability to use the time for personal purposes. By contrast, an employee who is free to use the time effectively for personal activities may be considered off duty.

What Factors Matter?

Courts generally consider the totality of the circumstances rather than relying on a single factor. Relevant considerations can include:

• Geographic restrictions: Must the employee remain on the premises or within a limited area?
• Response time: How quickly must the employee respond or report to work?
• Frequency of calls: How often is the employee actually interrupted?
• Personal activities: Can the employee realistically shop, dine, attend events, sleep, or care for family?
• Other restrictions: Does the employer prohibit activities such as drinking alcohol or traveling outside a particular area?
• Flexibility: Can the employee trade shifts or otherwise control the on-call schedule?

The more the restrictions interfere with ordinary personal activities, the stronger the argument may be that the employee was effectively working during the on-call period. The analysis is highly dependent on the facts.

Waiting Time During the Workday

The FLSA also addresses waiting time in 29 C.F.R. §§ 785.14–785.16(opens in new tab). Generally, short and unpredictable periods of inactivity during the workday are compensable when the employee must remain available to the employer.

Examples can include waiting for machinery repairs, waiting for a customer or assignment, or waiting for materials or instructions. The employee does not necessarily have to be performing active work every minute for the time to count.

By contrast, a longer period may be unpaid when the employee is completely relieved from duty, is told in advance that they may leave, and has enough time to use the period effectively for personal purposes.

Travel Time at a Glance

Travel time is governed by separate rules, including 29 C.F.R. §§ 785.35–785.41(opens in new tab). In general:

• Ordinary commuting: Travel between home and a regular workplace generally is not compensable.
• Travel between job sites: Travel during the workday generally counts as work time.
• One-day assignments: Travel to a temporary assignment in another city may be compensable, subject to rules concerning the employee’s ordinary commute.
• Overnight travel: Certain travel occurring during the employee’s normal working hours may be compensable, while travel outside those hours may not be.

Examples

What You May Be Able to Recover

A worker who prevails on an FLSA unpaid-wage claim may be entitled to:

• Back wages for qualifying unpaid work time.
• Overtime compensation when unpaid hours cause the employee to exceed 40 hours in a workweek.
• Liquidated damages, which can equal the amount of unpaid wages under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)(opens in new tab), subject to applicable defenses and exceptions.
• Attorney’s fees and court costs when the employee prevails on a covered FLSA claim.
• Other remedies that may be available under applicable state law.

The amount of any potential recovery depends on the employee’s pay rate, hours, dates, classification, applicable statutes of limitations, and other facts. State law may provide additional or different remedies.

Time Limits to File

Federal FLSA claims generally must be brought within two years of the violation, or three years when the violation was willful. 29 U.S.C. § 255(a)(opens in new tab). State-law claims may have different deadlines and requirements. Because limitations periods can be complicated and may continue to run, workers should not wait to investigate a potential claim.

What to Do If You Think You Are Owed Wages

Track Your Time

Keep a personal record of when you begin and end work, training and meeting times, on-call periods, and waiting time. Contemporaneous records can be useful when reconstructing unpaid hours.

Save Supporting Documents

Keep pay stubs, schedules, on-call rosters, training records, meeting notices, dispatch logs, and communications concerning your work schedule or availability requirements.

Look for Patterns

Consider whether you routinely work before or after clocking in, attend unpaid meetings or training, remain subject to restrictive on-call requirements, or wait between assignments without pay. Repeated practices may be important when evaluating a wage claim.

Consider Speaking With an Attorney

If you believe you have been denied wages, consider consulting an experienced wage-and-hour attorney before the applicable limitations period expires. Depending on the circumstances, an attorney may be able to evaluate whether federal or state law provides a claim.

If Your Employer Requires the Time, It May Need to Be Paid

Mandatory training, required meetings, restrictive on-call duty, and employer-controlled waiting time can constitute compensable work under the FLSA. But the rules are fact-specific, and not every training session, meeting, on-call period, or waiting period is necessarily compensable.

If you regularly attend unpaid meetings or training, remain subject to restrictive on-call requirements, or wait between assignments without pay, you may have a wage claim. Depending on the circumstances, available remedies may include unpaid wages, overtime, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees, and other relief.

Josephson Dunlap, Lawyers for the Workers®, represents employees nationwide in wage and hour matters. We offer confidential case evaluations at no cost.