Can federal employees be required to be on-call?

The Federal Employees Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. 5544-45, provides for premium on-call duty pay for “an employee in a position requiring him regularly to remain at, or within the confines of, his station during longer than ordinary periods of duty.”

Should I be paid if I am on-call?

If on-call hours count as hours worked, you need to pay your employees for their on-call time. If on-call hours are not considered hours worked, you do not need to pay your employees while they wait. However, you must pay employees when they respond to a call.

Is being on-call without pay legal?

As with any nonexempt employee, federal law requires that on-call, nonexempt employees must still be compensated at or above the minimum wage and must be paid overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 in any given workweek. Also, employers should make sure to check state laws on minimum wage and overtime.

Does being on-call count as working time?

When workers are on-call but based at home or somewhere other than their workplace, on-call time only counts as working time from the time they are called out (this is also the direction in which employers are seeking to push regulations governing on-call shifts at the workplace as part of the European Union review of …

What is the difference between on call and standby?

If you are on “stand-by” outside of your regular working hours, it means you need to be available to work and cannot use the time that you are in that status for your own purposes. If you are on “on-call” you receive one-sixth of your straight time pay (if you are an hourly employee).

What is standby time work?

On-call or standby time at the work site is considered hours worked for which the employee must be. compensated even if the employee does nothing but wait for something to happen. “[ A]n employer, if he chooses, may hire a man to do nothing or to do nothing but wait for something to happen.

How do you get paid when on-call?

When Employees Are Paid for On-Call Time When employees make themselves available in their actual office or workplace for on-call assignments, employers must pay them for the time they spend there.

Can hourly employees be on-call without pay?

Under regulations issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay a non-exempt employee for on-call time if he or she “is required to remain on call on the employer’s premises or so close thereto that he cannot use the time effectively for his own purposes.

Can my employer make me be on-call?

In most cases, an employer does have the right to require employees to be on call and to report as called in. Typically, the on-call period is not compensable, and only time actually spent working is compensable.

What is a standby pay?

Standby or Controlled Standby are legal terms used to describe situations in which an employee is doing nothing other than waiting for their employer to call them to work, if need be. The rate of pay for standby does not have to be the employee’s regular rate of pay, but cannot be less than minimum wage.