{"id":12673,"date":"2021-11-05T06:45:15","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T06:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asmlawyers.com\/?p=12673"},"modified":"2023-06-26T17:53:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T17:53:23","slug":"the-flsathe-flsa-and-employer-controlled-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asmlawyers.com\/the-flsathe-flsa-and-employer-controlled-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The FLSA and Employer-Controlled Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2020, the California Supreme Court found that Apple was violating fair labor laws by requiring employees to wait for bag checks before leaving the premises. It was ruled that because the checks were primarily for Apple’s benefit and were met with disciplinary action when skipped, this bag checking legally constituted a timef in which employees were under Apple’s control and therefore had a right to minimum wage or greater.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the way the Supreme Court ruled over this issue opened the door to pay for many other mandatory off-the-clock activities being forced on non-exempt California workers. Are you or someone you know being subjected to work activities that are unpaid because – officially – they happen before or after your scheduled shift? If so, you may have a right to legal action and even back pay for mandatory hours that have gone uncompensated.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The FLSA and Employer-Controlled Time<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to the California Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are responsible for compensating their non-exempt (non-salaried) team members for any time when employees are under employer control. This standard was put into place to protect on-call shifts, irregular hours, and other abusive time-controlling policies that have been popular in the recent past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Essentially, if an employer is preventing you from using your time for your own purposes, they are in control and therefore must pay for that time – whether or not you are performing profitable work for the company. The standards also relate to whether that time is spent on-premises and whether the off-the-clock activities primarily benefit the employee or employer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Examples of Potentially Unpaid Mandatory Activities<\/b><\/h3>\n

Unpaid mandatory activities most often occur before or after clocking out and during clocked break times. These are activities that are functionally or even explicitly required by your employer but are considered off-the-clock activities to be done off of paid shift hours.<\/span><\/p>\n