DOL Issues Guidance On Tracking Compensable Time For Teleworkers

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a Field Assistance Bulletin to clarify an employer’s obligation to track the number of hours of compensable work by employees who are teleworking or working remotely.

The guidance reminds employers that employees working remotely must be paid for all hours worked, including work not requested but allowed and work performed at home. If the employer knows or has reason to believe that work is being performed, the time must be counted as hours worked.

The guidance cautions employers to guard against simply paying an employee for scheduled hours. Instead, employers are responsible for providing remote employees a reasonable reporting procedure for all hours actually worked – including nonscheduled time.

If your employees are working remotely, we encourage you to carefully review this guidance and contact a KZA attorney with any questions about your time recording/reporting procedures.

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