Should an hourly employee be compensated after hours?
Asked by durangojane
My husband works as a truck driver and is on an hourly pay. He is considered "head truck driver" so anyone who has a problem with delivery/truck, etc. contacts him. He has a company cell phone. When he punches out in the afternoon, that is when his pay period stops. However, he leaves his phone on until 5:30 PM (usually he's home by 4PM). If these other drivers call him after he punches out, shouldn't he be compensated for "on call" time? I've asked him to shut it off 'cause it is disruptive especially in light of the fact that he's giving the company free time. Am I being unreasonable in thinking this way? (He tells me the other people there are stupid and not capable of handling the situations for which he's getting these after hour calls to which I responded, so what.) We are in Connecticut. If he is on call and does not go out, but handles situations because he is called, is that considered compensatable time?

Best Answer:
Yes, he's giving the company free work! He SHOULD be compensated for the time he's still on call. It's good of him to want to keep helping those less competent than him, and he well should if he's able, but he does need to talk to the company about the fact that he is giving them free time. He should be compensated.

If he stops being paid at 4, then he should stop working at 4, otherwise he's doing it on his own time. If he wants to work for free, that's fine. But he can't expect to be paid if he refuses to stop working when his shift's over.
Answered by Megan S

I can understand why he'd want to address problems as they come up as it can only cause problems for him in the long run if they're not taken care of. However, hourly employees responsibility generally ends when their shift is over and they sign out. He should speak to his supervisor about compensation. They may tell him (if they're even willing to pay him the over time) that he'll have to stay at the office if he wants the $. Good luck!
Answered by keshequa87

I live in the state of Connecticut and it is my understanding that any time he is on call and actually has to go on a call he is to be paid for it and in most cases a minimum of four hours pay unless he has signed a waiver stating he will on be paid for the time he works i.e. if he is at a call for 1 hour he gets paid for one hour with the waiver without it would be 4 hours.
Answered by Crystal B

Is he being compensated in his pay that maybe you are not aware of, but I would be very carfully about barking to loud, you don't want him to loose his job.
Answered by kelly

I was a Driver, and am now a dispatcher, so I know this situation all too well. I live in California, so the laws may change. Here is my opinion based on my own experience. If you carry the phone and it does not ring, then you get no compensation. Now if it does ring, I am now being paid the time. Now it depends on if it is the weekend, I automatically get paid four hours, because im designated to be off, unless I obviously have to come into the office and do further work that takes more than four hours. If I get a call after work during the week, I get paid from the time I left, to the time I get off the phone. Example: I leave work at 4:30, get a phone call at 6:30, and the conversation, and what ever other work I had to do with the conversation (I.E. research on computer), ended at 6:45, I now have clocked out at 6:45 instead of 4:30.
Answered by gimpy