Compensable Time: For What Time Must An Employee Be Paid? - The Maryland Guide to Wage Payment and Employment Standards

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.

Updated February 18, 2010