Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Employees are required to be on site 15 minutes prior to the beginning of their shift and cannot leave until the end of their scheduled shift (except for 30 min at lunch). Employees are paid for every hour they are actually providing services to clients regardless of how many hours they are scheduled and on site. This can be as little as 2 hours during a 6 hour shift. They must remain on site (unpaid) in case walk-in clients appear. Is this legal?


Asked on 3/01/12, 2:58 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Michael Kirschbaum Law Offices of Michael R. Kirschbaum

No, it is not. If the employee is under the control of the employer and not free to leave, they must be paid for all time they are controlled, regardless of whether they are working or not.

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Answered on 3/01/12, 3:25 pm
Leon Greenberg Leon Greenberg Professional Corporation

I would agree. I would add this sort of conduct seems very common among some employers and industries and has been the subject of a number of quite large class action lawsuits. You may wish to contact an attorney to discuss this situation in detail and explore bringing a legal claim over the same. I am licensed to practice law in California and pretty much exclusively handle wage and hour disputes.

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Answered on 3/01/12, 3:46 pm

It actually depends on your industry and how you are paid and how much. You need to sit down with an attorney and go over the details of the situation to determine whether it is legal in your particular situation.

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Answered on 3/01/12, 9:16 pm


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