To exclude sleep time from the hours worked of an employee who lives at the worksite, (1) the employer and employee must have a reasonable agreement to exclude sleep time, and (2) the employer must provide the employee “private quarters in a homelike environment”
The reasonable agreement should be in writing in order preclude any misunderstanding of terms and conditions of an individual’s employment.
Private quarters means living and sleeping space that is separate from the person receiving services. A homelike environmentmeans space that includes facilities for cooking and eating, a bathroom, and a space for recreation.
For example, a home health aide and a consumer could live together in a two-bedroom apartment with a living room, kitchen with dining space, and bathroom. The consumer uses one of the bedrooms, and the provider uses the other. The provider’s bedroom contains a bed, night table, dresser, two lamps, and a desk and chair; the provider stores personal possessions in the room. Both the consumer and provider use the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The provider, consumer, and a third party home care agency all signed a written agreement that the employee’s hours will not include the hours between 11:00pm and 7:00am, when she sleeps. In these circumstances, because the employee has private quarters in a homelike environment and a reasonable agreement with her employers regarding the exclusion of sleep time, the consumer and the agency may exclude from the home care worker’s hours worked the eight hours per night between 11:00pm and 7:00am.
Additional information about sleep time and hours worked requirements is available is available at Fact Sheet 79D, Hours Worked Applicable to Domestic Service Employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
October 2018
Tags: Sleep Time Requirements
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