I reported to work and was sent home due to lack of work after one hour. I was asked to come back later and ended working a full 8-hour shift. Am I entitled to reporting time pay?
Yes. In California, you are entitled to reporting time pay for 3 hours. You must be compensated for 1/2 the time of your regular scheduled work period of 8 hours, which is 4 hours. Since you worked one hour before being sent home due to lack of work, you are entitled to 3 hours of reporting time pay. Even if you were called back to work later that same day and worked a full shift, you are still entitled to 3 hours of reporting time pay. The law states that if you showed up to work and were sent home due to a scheduling problem after working less than half of your shift, you are entitled to reporting time pay for 1/2 of your scheduled work day and no less than 2 hours of pay. In this situation, you must be paid for a total of 11 hours of work plus 1 hour of overtime. Your reporting time pay does not count towards overtime hours, because reporting time pay is considered pay for time that wasn’t actually worked. Therefore you actually worked 9 hours, so 1 hour is at the overtime rate. If you are not compensated for 11 hours of work at your regular rate and 1 hour of overtime, you may want to file a reporting time pay wage claim in California, to recover your lost wages.
Example:
Jane showed up for her 8-hour shift and worked only 1 hour before her employer sent her home because there was not enough work for her. Jane went home and received a call a few hours later asking her to come back because things had picked up. Jane returned to work and completed a full 8-hour shift. Jane is entitled to reporting time pay for her first shift. Jane is entitled to reporting time pay for 1/2 of an 8-hour shift, minus the 1 hour she worked, which equals 3 hours of reporting time pay at her normal rate. Since Jane ended up working an additional full 8-hours shift, she worked a total of 9 hours, which means Jane is entitled to 1 hour of overtime plus her normal pay for an 8-hour shift. In total, Jane will be paid for 11 hours of work and 1 hour of overtime. Reporting time pay is for time that wasn’t actually worked, so it isn’t included when factoring overtime. If Jane does not receive compensation for 11 hours of pay and 1 hour of overtime, she may file a reporting time wage claim in California to recover her wages.
If you have a question about California reporting time pay law or want to file a reporting time pay wage claim in California, contact Strauss & Strauss APC now.