Labor law question

[groundloop]

I'm hoping someone here can point me to the pertinent laws before I start raising hell on behalf of my wife. She works in a middle school cafeteria, enjoys her job and is afraid that questioning her boss would jeopardize her position.

First off everyone there is paid hourly, and they have a set schedule each day (8 AM to 2 PM for instance). Starting this school year everyone is supposed to report 15 minutes early, supposedly to make sure they're where they're supposed to be and ready to start on time. HOWEVER, they're not being paid for that time. In my book if an employer tells people to be at work at 7:45 then they should start being paid at 7:45 and not 8:00. SO, I'm going to be contacting the school board and county commissioners to make sure they know about this, but before I do can someone point me to federal regulations that address this?

Thanks

[Sherman A1]

1. I would start with your State Wage & Hour

or the Dept of Labor before going to the school board (as that is where she works). I am pretty certain that the time should be paid, but I am no expert.

[elleng]

2. Quick research:

Under federal law, you must pay your employees for any of their time that you control and that benefits you. Generally, this includes time that the employee cannot spend as he or she wishes, even if that time is not spent working. For example, an employee who has to cover the phones while eating lunch is entitled to be paid for that time, even if the phones aren't ringing.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/paying-employees-business-travel-on-call-30074.html

Can't vouch for it.
Good luck.

[PoliticAverse]

3. Please specify the state this is happening in. n/t

[groundloop]

4. Georgia

thanks.

[Omaha Steve]

6. State of Georgia Dept of Labor info

GEORGIA

Mark Butler

Commissioner

Department of Labor

Sussex Place, Room 600

148 Andrew Young International Blvd., NE

Atlanta, GA 30303

[phone]

Fax: [phone]

http://www.dol.state.ga.us/

[Purplehazed]

5. I think the question to ask is....

Will the employees be penalized/disciplined for arriving later than 07:45? That would indicate that 07:45 is the start time of their shift. I have worked for employers that have expected employees to arrive early enough to start work exactly at a specified time. That meant coats off, lunch put away, dressed as required etc. and have never seen compensation for that time.