Hours worked include all the time during which an employee is required or allowed to perform work for an employer, regardless of where the work is done, whether on the employer’s premises, at a designated work place, at home or at some other location.

It is the duty of management to exercise control and see that work is not performed if the employer does not want it to be performed. An employer cannot sit back and accept the benefits of an employee’s work without considering the time spent to be hours worked. Merely making a rule against such work is not enough. The employer has the power to enforce the rule and must make every effort to do so. Employees generally may not volunteer to perform work without the employer having to count the time as hours worked.

Some employees learn a trade through on-the-job training under the guidance of a skilled journeyman combined with related, supplemental classroom instruction usually held outside of working hours. This type of training is sometimes called an apprenticeship program.

The time apprentices spend working on the job is hours worked. The time they spend in related supplemental classroom instruction outside of working hours may not be hours worked, depending on the terms of the Apprenticeship Agreement.
As an enforcement policy the time spent in this training will not be hours worked, if:

1. the apprentice is employed under a written apprenticeship agreement or program which substantially meets the fundamental standards of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT) of the U.S. Department of Labor, and
2. the training time does not involve productive work or performance of the apprentice’s regular duties.

If the above criteria are met, the time spent in such training will not be counted as hours worked unless the written apprenticeship agreement specifically provides that it is hours worked. An informal agreement to treat the time spent in related instruction as hours worked does not meet this requirement. The agreement that the time spent is hours worked must be in writing.

Questions? Contact an overtime pay lawyer at Werman Law Office, P.C.