On call time is time that an employer requires an employee to be ready and available to work, but for which the employer doesn’t pay the employee. For example, a limousine company might require its drivers to carry a cell phone and be available to drive within two hours of receiving a call to drive. In this situation, the driver would be on call but the company wouldn’t start paying him or her until an assignment came in. The more restrictions that a company places on what an employee can do during on-call time, the more likely it is that company must pay him or her for the time spent waiting to work. So, for example, if the company required the limousine driver to stay with the limousine at all times and be ready to pick up a passenger within 30 minutes of receiving a call, the company would likely have to pay the driver for time spent waiting for the call.
Employees who have not been properly paid for on-call time may be able to recover unpaid regular wages and overtime as well as any applicable penalties. If you think your employer has failed to pay you for on call time, contact the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver by email or phone at 323-648-6676 for a free consultation
