California: Time Required to be on Work Premises May be Working Time

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All Employers with Employees in CA

EFFECTIVE

March 25, 2024

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Quick Look

  • Employer-mandated periods waiting and passing through security areas is compensable work time.
  • Time spent traveling between an entry point and a destination point on work premises must be paid as of the first location where the employee’s presence is required for an employment-related reason other than the practical necessity of accessing the worksite.
  • Even though a collective bargaining agreement complies with meal and rest requirements, employees still must be paid for meal periods where the employee is not free to leave the premises.

Discussion

In Huerta v. CSI Electrical Contractors, Inc., et al, the California Supreme Court answered three questions certified to it by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals about Wage Order No. 16 and the scope of the term “hours worked.” Wage Order No. 16 applies to employees who work in certain “on-site occupations” in the construction, drilling, logging, and mining industries. There, union workers spent time entering and exiting a worksite through a security gate, which could incur a wait time of 5 to 30 minutes and a security inspection, plus another 15-20 minutes driving between the security gate and employee parking lot. However, they were paid as of the time they arrived and left the employee parking lot. They were also subject to specific safety restrictions while driving on the employer’s premises between the security gate and employee parking lot. Finally, they received unpaid meal periods but were not permitted to leave the premises. The court answered the three certified questions as follows.

 

Is time spent on an employer’s premises in a personal vehicle and waiting to scan an identification badge, have security guards peer into the vehicle, and then exit a Security Gate compensable as ‘hours worked’ within the meaning of . . . Wage Order No. 16? An employee’s time spent on an employer’s premises awaiting and undergoing an employer-mandated exit procedure that includes the employer’s visual inspection of the employee’s personal vehicle is compensable as “hours worked” within the meaning of Wage Order No. 16.

 

Is time spent on the employer’s premises in a personal vehicle, driving between the Security Gate and the employee parking lots, while subject to certain rules from the employer, compensable as ‘hours worked’ or as ‘employer-mandated travel’ within the meaning of . . . Wage Order No. 16? The time that an employee spends traveling between the Security Gate and the employee parking lots is compensable as “employer-mandated travel” under Wage Order No. 16 if the Security Gate was the first location where the employee’s presence was required for an employment-related reason other than the practical necessity of accessing the worksite. Separately, mandated workplace rules on how employees drive to the worksite in a personal vehicle does not make that time “hours worked” because the imposed rules do not create the requisite level of employer control.

 

Is time spent on the employer’s premises, when workers are prohibited from leaving but not required to engage in employer-mandated activities, compensable as ‘hours worked’ within the meaning of . . . Wage Order No. 16, or under California Labor Code Section 1194, when that time was designated as an unpaid ‘meal period’ under a qualifying collective bargaining agreement? When an employee is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that complies with Labor Code section 512(e) and Wage Order No. 16, and provides the employee with an “unpaid meal period,” that time is nonetheless compensable under the wage order as “hours worked” if the employer prohibits the employee from leaving the employer’s premises or a designated area during the meal period and if this prohibition prevents the employee from engaging in otherwise feasible personal activities.  An employee may bring an action under Labor Code section 1194 to enforce the wage order and recover unpaid wages for that time.

 

Action Items

  1. Review meal and rest policies for compliance.
  2. Review control required of employees when arriving and exiting the workplace to ensure compensable time is captured in timekeeping systems.
  3. Ensure meal periods are paid when employees are not permitted to leave the premises.
  4. Have appropriate personnel trained on compensable time and meal and rest period requirements.

 

Disclaimer: This document is designed to provide general information and guidance concerning employment-related issues. It is presented with the understanding that ManagEase is not engaged in rendering any legal opinions. If a legal opinion is needed, please contact the services of your own legal adviser. © 2024 ManagEase