Reporting Time Pay Requirements in California

Under California law, workers have a right to reporting time pay. This means that regardless of whether a worker is sent home early from their scheduled shift, or if they are asked to show up to work for a short period of time than scheduled, they should still get paid a fair amount of wages for reporting to work. However, please note that reporting time pay provisions do not apply to employees that are on a paid standby status or to employees who have regularly scheduled shifts of less than two hours.

Reporting for Work and Getting Sent Home Early

If an employee reports to work for a regularly scheduled shift and their employer sends them home early for less than half the scheduled shift, they are entitled to receive the regular rate of pay for at least half the hours they were scheduled to work, with a minimum of two hours of pay and a maximum of four hours of pay. For example, if an employee is scheduled to work for four hours, but was sent home after two hours, they are not entitled to any reporting time pay because they worked more than half the hours they were scheduled to work. However, if in the same situation, the employee was sent home after only reporting to work for an hour, then their employer must pay them for the one hour they worked, as well as for two hours of pay as a part of reporting time pay.

Reporting for Work Twice in One Day

If an employee is required to report to work twice in one day, such as reporting to work a second time for a split shift or to work overtime, they are entitled to at least two hours of their regular rate of pay.

Reporting for Work Assignments

If an employee is required to report to work for an unspecified amount of hours and was not assigned work, the employee must be paid for at least two hours of their regular rate of pay.

Reporting to Work for a Termination Meeting

If an employee was not scheduled to come in to work and is asked to come for a short period to discuss the details of their termination, the employer must pay them for at least two hours of pay.

Failure to Pay for Reporting Time

The only exception to reporting time pay requirements is if a worker is sent home due to lack of work that was beyond the employer’s control, such as if there was a power failure, natural disaster, or other sorts of emergencies such as threats being made to the employees. However, if the lack of work is due to the failure of the employer’s work equipment, then the employer is obligated to provide reporting time pay for their employees.

If your employer failed to provide you with reporting time pay and you would like to take legal action, feel free to give our office a call at (323) 208-9171 or email us at info@kyletodd.com.