HOW ARE ON DUTY AND OFF DUTY DEFINED?
Waiting time while the employee is on duty is generally considered compensable work time, especially when the periods of waiting are brief and unpredictable. This is so because employees are considered to be unable to use such time for their own purposes. Employees are generally entitled to be paid for waiting time whether it occurs on or off the employer’s premises, and even if they are doing such leisure activities as reading a newspaper or playing cards while waiting. An employee will generally be deemed to be engaged in off duty non-compensable time if he is completely relieved from duty during a period of time which is long enough to permit the employee to use the time effectively for his or her own purposes. The employee must be advised in advance that he may leave the job, or that he will not have to start working until some specific time. For example, if a truck driver arrives at a destination, and is told that he can leave for six hours before returning to commence another tri
Waiting time while the employee is on duty is generally considered compensable work time, especially when the periods of waiting are brief and unpredictable. This is so because employees are considered to be unable to use such time for their own purposes. Employees are generally entitled to be paid for waiting time whether it occurs on or off the employers premises, and even if they are doing such leisure activities as reading a newspaper or playing cards while waiting. An employee will generally be deemed to be engaged in off duty non-compensable time if he is completely relieved from duty during a period of time which is long enough to permit the employee to use the time effectively for his or her own purposes. The employee must be advised in advance that he may leave the job, or that he will not have to start working until some specific time. For example, if a truck driver arrives at a destination, and is told that he can leave for six hours before returning to commence another trip
