Local Law Firms Home > Employment Law Overview > Working Off the Clock Not all workers will apply to this—but for those who are paid hourly and have to punch in a clock and punch out may be entitled to extra compensation. Non-exempt employees of wage and hour laws are required only to work when they are clocked in, and are only to work a certain amount of hours before they qualify for overtime pay. One way that employers avoid having to pay their employees overtime pay (or even just for extra hours) is by having them put in extra time by asking them to finish up a task after they have clocked out, or by asking that they do something at the beginning of their shift before they clock in. For those who are classified as non-exempt employees, you may be qualified to monetary compensation in an employment lawsuit.
Workers are supposed to be compensated for pre-shift and post-shift duties when such job responsibilities they are an integral and indispensable part of the principal activities for which the employees are hired for. Did you know? For purposes of state wage and hour regulations and working off the clock laws, the phrase "principal activities" is to be liberally construed to include any work of consequence performed for a company no matter what time the work is done at.
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