Can Hourly Employees Be On Call?

Hourly employees who are scheduled for on-call shifts at retailers and restaurants in California may be entitled to receive compensation for the time they are required to be available for shifts, regardless of whether or not they are actually called in.

What is On-Call Scheduling?

On-call scheduling is a type of schedule where hourly employees are required to check in with their employer several hours prior to the start of their shift. At this point, the employees will either be told that they are needed at work, or that their shift has been canceled.

The workers subject to these types of schedules are generally paid an hourly wage, meaning that if their shifts are canceled, they are not compensated.

What Industries are Affected by On-Call Scheduling?

Retailers and fast food companies often use on-call scheduling to ensure that they only have the number of workers necessary for a given shift, and are not paying for unnecessary, additional workers on slow days.

Employees affected by these kinds of schedules, whether in California or another state, are often paid low hourly wages, and the lack of a consistent schedule can make it difficult for them to pay their monthly expenses. This type of on-call work also makes it difficult for workers to trade shifts, or pick up shifts for fellow workers.

What are Hourly Workers’ Rights?

According to a recent California court ruling, hourly employees in California who are subject to on-call scheduling should be compensated for the time they are required to be on-call. In an opinion issued from California Court of Appeals on Feb. 4, 2019, the court may have established a new precedent regarding these types of cases.

The on-call shift case was against Tilly’s, a California retail store.  Plaintiff Skyler W. claimed that their employer, Tilly’s, required on-call employees to contact their employer two hours before on-call shifts. At the point of this contact, the employees would be told whether or not they needed show up for that day’s shift. Skyler argued in her lawsuit that requiring employees to call in before the start of their shift is effectively the same as the employee reporting for work.

Under regulations set in place by California’s Industrial Welfare Commission, hourly employees are required to be paid “reporting time pay” on days that they are required to report for work, even if they are not put to work.

The court concluded that the phrase “report for work” could be interpreted in a number of ways, including physically showing up, or calling in ahead of their scheduled shifts. According to an opinion released by one of the justices on the court, “on-call shifts burden employees, who cannot take other jobs, go to school, or make social plans during on-call shifts – but who nonetheless receive no compensation…unless they ultimately are called in to work.”

If you are an hourly worker at a retailer or restaurant in California that utilizes on-call scheduling, you may not be receiving fair compensation for your on-call hours. You may benefit from checking in with an attorney specializing in hourly employees rights.