The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division recently issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) advising on certain applications of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for teleworking employees. The primary focus of the FAB is compensable time, breaks for nursing employees, and FMLA eligibility rules for remote employees. The bulletin, intended for field staff, is a useful tool for employers to ensure their policies are compliant under the current FLSA and FMLA regulations as to their teleworking employees.
The FLSA requires covered employers to pay nonexempt employees for all hours worked, including work performed in their home or otherwise away from the employer's premises or job sites. When it comes to breaks taken during the workday, the FLSA regulations explain that breaks of 20 minutes or less are generally counted as compensable hours worked. Whether teleworking at home or working at an employer's facility, short breaks to get a cup of coffee, stretch their legs, go to the bathroom, etc. will be treated as compensable.
However, bona fide meal breaks (30 minutes or more) and any break longer than 20 minutes in which the employee is using the time for their own purposes and is completely relieved from duty are not hours worked. Employer must count time as hours worked if they know, or have reason to believe, that work is being performed through "reasonable diligence."...
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