Can we ask an employee to arrive early so they can get logged in and not pay them for extra 10 minutes?

Question:

We have salary and non-salary employees. What is the law regarding an employee arriving 10 minutes late to work when we want them to start right at 8 a.m. answering phones? Can we ask an employee to arrive early so they can get logged in, etc. or would we have to pay them for 10 minutes?

Answer:

If you require non-exempt employees to be a work 10 minutes prior to their scheduled start time, you likely should pay them for those additional 10 minutes.  Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), non-exempt employees must be paid for all hours actually worked and also be paid overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a single workweek.

According to the FLSA regulations, the workweek ordinarily includes “all the time during which an employee is necessarily required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty or at a prescribed workplace.”

Further, the FLSA regulations also consider waiting time to be paid working time if:  (1) it predominantly benefits the employer or is requested or required by the employer; and (2) employees are unable to effectively use the time for their own purposes.

So, if you specifically require your non-exempt employees to be at work 10 minutes prior to their start time, that time likely is considered working time under the FLSA, and you should pay them for that time spent waiting to begin work.  And, if that extra 10 minutes per day causes the non-exempt employees to work more than 40 hours in a workweek, you will have to pay the employees overtime as a result.

On the other hand, you could always counsel your employees about your attendance and punctuality policies.  Meaning, that you can require your non-exempt employees to be at work and ready to begin work at their scheduled start time and remind them that they will be disciplined if they do not do so.