Many employers offer to pay for training time and even pay their employees to study to pass licensing exams required for their jobs. But did you know that in many instances, the federal labor laws may require employers to pay for this time? The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid for time spent training or studying for required exams unless employers can show:
1) the work is performed outside of regular working hours;
2) the work is voluntary;
3) the work is not directly related to the job; and
4) no other productive work is performed during this time.
If any single one of these elements is not met, you must be paid for your time worked while in training or preparing for licensing exams, including from home.
Employees generally must be compensated for all time worked, including for time spent completing required training and preparing for required exams from home. For example, if you reviewed materials or prepared for exams off the clock during training, you may be entitled to back-pay. Employers too often get away with not paying their employees for this time.
Our firm has recovered millions of dollars in unpaid overtime wages on behalf of groups of:
1) financial advisors studying for their FINRA Series exams from home at night and on weekends;
2)insurance salespeople completing training and preparing for their licensing exams from home; and
3) newly hired bank branch managers completing training assignments, as well as others.
If you have questions about your rights or would like to discuss these unpaid overtime claims and damages, please click here to complete our Contact Us form, and a member of our law firm will contact you.
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