Do You Have to be Paid for Onboarding or Training at Work?

Let’s say you are starting a new job. Like any new job, there is an onboarding process. That may include paperwork to be filled out, training videos to watch, testing, evaluations, background checks, or other procedural steps, to officially begin working at your job.

But do you have to be paid for that time? A recent case involving a new employee at Amazon, has clarified this part of the law.

The FLSA

The Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA, says that employees who are covered under the law, must be paid for the time that they work. That seems obvious, but often there are disputes as to when someone is working.

Lawsuit Against Amazon

A would-be Amazon hire sued Amazon, saying that she wasn’t paid for a series of background or onboarding activities that Amazon required, including things like filling out IRS and immigration paperwork, or going through training videos and workshops.

Amazon said that it didn’t have to pay her, given that these were things that were conditional for employment, not actually working in the job itself.

What Kind of Activities are They?

The Court agreed with Amazon, somewhat.

The court held that pre-employment activities that are part of the evaluation process for an employer to evaluate the employee, are not compensable. So, for example, filling out consent forms for background checks, or conducting interviews, don’t have to be compensated.

Put another way, if it’s something you have to do to get the job, it isn’t compensable but if it’s something that you have to do once you’re hired to start working, it is compensable. So, for example, training videos or walkthroughs of procedure or onboarding videos your employer makes you watch, all must be compensated.

One question to ask is whether or not what you are doing is trying to see if you’re eligible to work (not compensable) as opposed to things you must do to learn the job, but after you’re hired, which you must be compensated for.

Employers May Try to Get Around This

Many employers will try to get around this, by calling a new employee “provisional” or “conditional.” By saying an employee is conditional, it makes it look like what the employee is being made to do is something the employer is using to see if the employee should be hired or not, which is not compensable.

But it doesn’t matter what the employer calls it; courts won’t just take the employer’s word. If an employee has, in fact, been hired, and the employer is no longer evaluating the employee for hiring, then all work done must be counted towards the time the employee gets paid for.

The case against Amazon has been certified as a class action, and a final ruling on the case as far as how much they are owed by Amazon, is still to be determined.

Are you not being paid for work or time that you feel that you should be paid for? Contact the San Jose employment attorneys at the Costanzo Law Firm today for help.

Source:

dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/22-flsa-hours-worked