Q: I WORK as an on-call employee for a healthcare facility. My employer often calls me to report for duty but when I arrive to work, my assignment is cancelled and I am sent home. This has happened several times and I was not paid for a single canceled work even though they scheduled it and I showed up for it. What are my rights?
A: For every day that you reported to a scheduled workday, you may be entitled to reporting time pay. If the employee is required to work, reports to work, and is not put to work, or does not work half of the employee’s scheduled day’s work, the employee is paid a half-shift reporting wage of at least two hours but not to exceed four hours.
Generally, if an employee is required to report to work a second time in any one workday and is furnished less than two hours of work on the second reporting, he or she must be paid for two hours at his or her regular rate of pay. These hours must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay.
Reporting time pay or “show-up pay” is compensation that employers are required to pay to hourly employees for certain unworked but regularly scheduled time, in addition to the hours the employee actually worked. The employer’s legal obligation to pay reporting time pay stems from California’s objective to encourage employers to properly schedule employees, and not waste employee’s time with haphazard scheduling.
Employers do not have to pay reporting time pay when the following situations occur:
1. Business operations cannot begin or continue due to threats to employees or property, or when civil authorities recommend that work not begin or continue;
2. Public utilities fail to supply electricity, water, or gas, or there is a failure in the public utilities, or sewer system;
3. The interruption of work is caused by an Act of God or other cause not within the employer’s control (e.g., earthquake, rain, or inclement weather);
4. The employee has requested to leave work early for personal reasons;
5. The employee is not fit to work (e.g., the employee reported to work while drunk);
6. The employee has not reported to work on time and is fired or sent home as a disciplinary action;
7. The employee is paid on standby status and is called to perform standby work on nonscheduled time.
Some employers may find it convenient to schedule employees only when there is a need for them, thus, keeping employees “on-call” and scheduling them to work with maybe a few hours’ notice. If these employees show up for a scheduled work, but then were sent home without being put to work, should they be paid for showing up? Some employees who work in the retail industry have filed lawsuits so they could be paid their show-up pay.
We previously mentioned Mayra Casas, a sales clerk for Victoria’s Secret in California, who sued her employer for failure to pay reporting time on regularly scheduled shifts, failure to pay reporting time on “call-in” shifts, and failure to pay for all time worked, among others. Casas claimed that she, and other employees, were required by the company to “call-in” two hours before their scheduled shift to see if work was available. If there was no work for them, they should not show up. If there was work, they need to show up on time. The employees said they were told to come in for work but when they arrived at work, they were told that their “call-in” shifts were cancelled. They were then sent home without pay. At other times, the employees showed up to work but were only provided a shortened shift.
Employees who worked at Forever 21 and BCBG Max Azria have also recently sued their respective employers in a class action for “on-call” shifts that were suddenly canceled after the employees have shown up to work. The employees were not paid reporting time pay.
“On-call” scheduling may happen not only in the retail industry but other industries as well, where the demand for workers may fluctuate, such as in healthcare, manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, or sales. Employees who are “on-call,” on unpaid “stand-by” or “per diem,” who find their scheduled work canceled after they show up, and who do not get paid for the cancellation, would be smart to speak with a knowledgeable employment attorney to find out if they’re entitled to additional wages.
* * *
The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. Atty. Sayas’ Law Office is located at 500 N. Brand Blvd. Suite 980, Glendale, CA 91203. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.
* * *
C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is trial attorney who has obtained several million dollar recoveries for his clients against employers and insurance companies. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.
