Businesses in many different sectors need a baseline amount of worker coverage. Hospitals and nursing homes need to have a minimum number of staff members on hand based on the patients or residents in need of care.
Retail establishments and restaurants may need a certain number of employees to operate efficiently. Manufacturing facilities may need to have extra workers on standby in case someone calls in sick during weekend overtime. Requiring that workers be available on standby or accept on-call shifts is a common employer practice. Some businesses go so far as to demand that workers be available for work without paying them for that time.
Can employers require that workers be available on-call or on standby without paying for their availability?
California requires on-call compensation
Workers who must be available to come in with little advance notice cannot truly make use of their free time. They cannot go to a movie and turn off their phones. They cannot go out for a drink with their friends or take a day-long road trip to Nevada. They make personal concessions to be available for their employers even if the company doesn’t actually call them into work.
As such, it is reasonable for the worker to expect minimum amount of compensation for their time. California does require that businesses compensate workers for standby or on-call hours. Workers should receive pay for every hour that they must be available even if the company does not call them in that day.
Organizations do not have to pay the standard hourly wage for an employee during on-call time. Instead, they simply need to pay minimum wage for on-call or standby shifts. Unfortunately, many companies try to trick workers into accepting certain job tasks without appropriate pay. Requiring that workers be available on-call or on standby should entitle them to minimum wage for the hours that the company requires their availability.
Employees who do not receive pay for the time that they have had to be on call may have grounds for a wage and hour claim. Asking a company for compensation for time worked sometimes requires going to court, and the law in California protects the rights of workers who do so.