Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Expected duties while off the clock
I am an hourly paid supervisor. All managers are salaried. In our facility all managers are expected to carry an alarm pager 24 hours a day for a week, 4 times a year and respond back to any alarm pages. Out of 7 supervisors in our facility 3 of us are expected to carry this pager as well, for the same time period. We are considered ''responsible'' enough to deal with it. No compensation of any kind is given to verbally respond to calls in the middle of the night. Can they demand we take this pager home and respond to calls in off-the-clock hours? If so, can they choose just us 3, or does it have to be fairly distributed across the board? Also, we have never signed or acknowledged willingness to do this. We were told we were doing it and told when. If the need arises to actually go to the facility in response to a call we are compensated for travel time. Any thoughts on the legality of this is appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Expected duties while off the clock
As an hourly employee, whether you should be paid for the time you are on call depends on the degree of control the employer has on you during your "off" hours. Just the fact that you have to carry a pager does not mean you are entitled to compensation. But if you are restricted from engaging in off duty activities or travel, must check in regularly or be within a short distance of the company to respond to calls, it is much more likely you are still on the clock and should be paid for that time.
An employer does not need your permission to assign this responsibility to you. Your continued employment may be conditioned on your willingness to accept such duties. Of course, the employer's responsibility is to pay for all work performed.
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