Time spent by nonexempt employees booting up their computers is not always compensable. When must workers be paid for that time?
Quick Answer
The time is generally compensable if using the computer is an integral and indispensable part of employees’ job duties.
Legal Perspective
Nexsen Pruet LLC
Greenville, South Carolina
Whether this time is compensable generally depends on whether booting up the computer is a regular daily activity, and integral and indispensable to performing job duties, says employment law attorney Sarah Sloan Batson (sbatson@nexsenpruet.com), of the firm Nexsen Pruet, LLC.
Example: For call center employees, the DOL takes the position that the first principal – and compensable – activity includes starting the computer to receive work instructions, computer applications and email.
An employer is generally not required to pay for work time deemed de minimis – uncertain and indefinite periods of a few seconds or minutes that cannot be precisely recorded for payroll purposes. This can include preliminary activities. However, if the boot-up process is a daily occurrence, and that average daily time can be easily calculated, courts could require employers to compensate employees for that time.
Relevant Case Law
Cadena v. Customer Connexx, LLC
Peterson v. Nelnet Diversified Solutions
Smiley v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Co.
HR Insight
The HR Solution
Weatherford, Texas
HR Consultant Ruth Bassham says nonexempt employees should be compensated for all work activities that are “integral and indispensable” to the principal activity of their job duties.
Piedmont Internal Medicine PC
Atlanta, Georgia
We have an excellent software program and IT support, and we have never paid for the two minutes it takes to log in, says Director of HR Mary J. Barker-Phillips.
However, if there were an issue, we would make corrections for a period of greater than 7 minutes.
YWCA Pierce County
Puyallup, Washington
Multiple courts have upheld that this time IS compensable, says HR Manager Karla Struble.
Preparing equipment necessary to perform principal activities of the employees’ job is integral to their work. Employees must turn on and boot up their work computers to perform their duties, so time spent turning on and booting up should be counted as time spent in work activities.
Key Takeaways
- Employees must be paid from the start of the first principal activity of the workday until the end of the last principal activity of the workday.
- According to the federal Department of Labor, starting a computer is an example of the first principal activity of the workday.
- Even small amounts of time spent booting up a computer at the start of the workday may be compensable unless recording the time presents an administrative burden for the employer.
- The federal Portal-to-Portal Act excludes from compensable time any activities that are preliminary or postliminary to the employee’s principal activities.
- When deciding whether a particular activity is “integral and indispensable,” consider whether the job can be performed if the activity at issue is eliminated.
INSIDER CONTENT
Q&As