On Call Pay

[txtech34]

What is the name of your state? TX

The Department of Labor just finished investigating my former employer. The company took the DOL reccommendation to pay past and present employees back pay for overtime and on call time. I was an exempt employee, as were the others, and I was required to be on call. I emailed the HR department asking about this and I was told that I was not included in the decision, and that they were not required to pay me for being on call. I thought that if you were put on call, on a regualr schedule, the employer was required to compensate you.

 

[cbg]

I thought that if you were put on call, on a regualr schedule, the employer was required to compensate you.

No, that is not true. As an exempt employee, there are no circumstances whatsoever in which you are legally entitled to any compensation over and above your regular salary, no matter how much time you spend on-call.

Even a non-exempt employee is not necessarily entitled to on-call pay for every hour he spends on call. It is extremely situation and state specific. Though the employees in your company may have been due on-call time in this specific situation, it is nowhere near as straightforward as being on-call = getting paid for it.