Idea Of The Day ^®

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires workers subject to minimum wage rules to be paid time and a half when they work more than 40 hours a week. Do pre-shift activities and waiting time count as “hours worked” for purposes of those 40 hours? It depends. A DOL opinion letter explains that the pre-shift activities that are integral and indispensable to principal job duties are compensable (i.e., they count). But some pre-shift activities (e.g., waiting in line to clock in and out) are preliminary or postliminary and not compensable hours if they occur before an employee’s first principal activity of the day or after the last one. #IdeaoftheDay