In Massachusetts are hourly employees required to be paid by the employer for mandatory off site meetings/classes?
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In Massachusetts are hourly employees required to be paid by the employer for mandatory off site meetings/classes?
We are attending an off-site mandatory meeting/class and are not being paid for
it. What is worse is that it is on a day where some of us would usually be
working. Thus we are not being paid the off day either.
Asked on January 8, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If you are a non-exempt hourly wage worker (i.e. not salaried), then the time that you spend in a mandatory job meeting is work time and therefore compensable. In other words, you must be paid for the time that you spend in attendance. Further, if this time puts you into an overtime (i.e. more than 40 in your work week), then it has to be paid as overtime pay. If you are not being properly compensated, you can contact your state department of labor and/or consult with an employment attorney. And you may also be entitled for your traveling time since the meeting is off-site. As for making you work on you day off, unless such action is prohibited under the terms of a union agreement or employment contract, it is legal. The fact is that a company can set the conditions of work much as it sees fit.
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If you are a non-exempt hourly wage worker (i.e. not salaried), then the time that you spend in a mandatory job meeting is work time and therefore compensable. In other words, you must be paid for the time that you spend in attendance. Further, if this time puts you into an overtime (i.e. more than 40 in your work week), then it has to be paid as overtime pay. If you are not being properly compensated, you can contact your state department of labor and/or consult with an employment attorney. And you may also be entitled for your traveling time since the meeting is off-site. As for making you work on you day off, unless such action is prohibited under the terms of a union agreement or employment contract, it is legal. The fact is that a company can set the conditions of work much as it sees fit.
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