Employers may sometimes face increased staffing demand unexpectedly. Some professionals required to be on call or on standby for their employers receive competitive salaries.
Not all workers have a right to additional pay or overtime wages while they are on call or on standby for their employers. However, the rules are clear in cases where such workers are paid on an hourly basis.
Hourly workers may have standby wage rights
Being available immediately when an employer calls limits what a worker can do during their free time. They may not be able to leave the county or go to the movies. They may need to avoid going out for a drink with friends.
The more restrictions a worker is subject to while they are on call for their employer, the greater the likelihood that their employer may need to pay them for that time. California state statutes generally impose an obligation to pay hourly workers when they must be available to their employers.
That rule applies in cases where workers are on call for their employers but not necessarily on the schedule, actively working. Occasionally, employers who should provide hourly workers with pay for their time on standby refuse to do so. In that situation, the worker denied wages for the time when they were not truly free to do as they pleased may potentially have grounds for a wage claim.
Reviewing an on-call schedule and the limits imposed by an employer with an employment law professional can help workers assert their wage and hour rights as established by California state statutes.