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The federal law does not spell out actual hours that must be worked in a work day. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the workweek ordinarily includes all the time during which an employee is required to be:
The Maryland Guide to Wage Payment and Employment Standards [external link] addresses hours worked in several situations.
What is “Work”? Work is service performed by an employee at the request and under the control of an employer and, therefore, on the employer's time. Work is compensable — that is, something for which an employee is entitled to be paid. Work under the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law does not include volunteer service, if the individual took the job with the full and voluntary understanding that he or she would not be paid, there is in fact no employer-employee relationship, and the activity is performed for the benefit of a charitable, educational, not for profit, or religious organization. Work does not necessarily require an employee to do or accomplish anything. Work may only involve fulfilling the requirements or following the directions of the employer — even where an employer instructs a worker to report to the jobsite at 7 AM and do nothing until called on. Work may even mean sleep time if a worker must remain on the premises for anytime less than 24 hours. Where free to leave without the possibility of consequence, the worker is on his or her own time, even if instructed to remain “on call” with a beeper, and may not be entitled to compensation. Once called back to work, however, compensation becomes due.
For What Time Must An Employee Be Paid? All of the time an employer requires an employee to be at work is compensable time, whether or not the employee is officially “on the clock.” This includes time driving in the employer's truck from worksite to worksite during the day. It also includes time driving from the shop to the work site at the beginning of the day and returning to the shop at the end of the day, if the employer requires the employee to report to and return to the shop. Some examples of illegal practices include the following: Example 1: An employee is required to report to work at 7:30, but is not paid for the time before punch-in at 8:00. Example 2: An employee is not paid for the time she is required to clean-up the employer's shop at the end of the day.
Commuting to Work: Time spent traveling or “commuting” to work is non-compensable (not payable). This is true, even where an employee must drive a long distance. However, as stated in the previous section, once reporting to work (such as to the employer's shop or office, or any other place an employer requires an employee to report), the employee must then be paid for the time necessary to travel to a work site or to accomplish some other mission the employer assigns.
Trainings and Meetings: Generally, an employee must be paid for training time and meetings — whether held during regular work hours or not — if attendance at a training or meeting is required and not “voluntary.” Trainings and meetings are not “voluntary” if it is generally known, or the employee reasonably believes, that non-attendance will result in some negative effect on employment.
Contact
Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation—Division of Labor and Industry
Regulations
Employment Standards Service of the Maryland Division of Labor and Industry, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Contact
The Department of Labor is the federal agency that monitors hours worked.
Regulations
U.S. labor regulations for hours worked can be found in CFR 29: