Should on-call time count toward FMLA eligibility?

A group of employees spent many nights away from home because of their job. Should that time count as hours worked for the purpose of obtaining FMLA?
A group of locomotive engineers spent nights in terminals away from home. The reason? During their layovers between jobs, the workers were on what was called “OK status” — which meant they had to report to work within 90 minutes and be rested (and sober) enough to operate a train.
Their employer didn’t count this OK status time as hours worked for the purposes of qualifying for FMLA leave. So the workers sued, saying that their on-call time should count toward their FMLA eligibility.
The workers’ argument: The time should count as hours worked because of the restrictive nature of requiring them to rest and be available within 90 minutes. Did they win?
The decision
No. The employees lost the case. The court said that since the on-call time could be used for “the ordinary activities of private life” it didn’t count as hours worked for FMLA eligibility purposes.
The same guideline is also used to determine whether on-call time is compensable or non-exempt employees.
To qualify for FMLA a person must be employed at the same company for at least 12 months and work in excess of 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period.
Cite: Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.