On Aug. 24, the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division issued a new field assistance bulletin, which offers guidance regarding employers’ obligation to track the number of compensable hours worked by employees who are teleworking. In a remote work arrangement, the question of the employer’s obligation to track hours actually worked for which the employee was not scheduled may often arise. This bulletin reaffirms an employer must pay its employees for all hours worked, including work not requested but allowed and work performed at home. Confusion regarding when an employer “has reason to believe that work is being performed” may be intensified by the surge of telework and remote work arrangements since DOL last issued an interpretation of these rules in 1961.
