U.S. Department of Labor
FLSA Hours Worked Advisor
Show-up Time
Sometimes when you arrive for work, at the time your employer directed you to be there, you are sent home before you perform any work. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require an employer to consider any of this time as hours worked or to give you show-up pay.
For example, an employee of a roofing company arrives for work at 8:00 a.m., as he or she was told to do. The employer tells him or her that they will not be working that day because it is too cold. The employee is sent home. Since the employee did not perform any work, the FLSA would not require the employer to consider any of the time as hours worked or to give the employee show-up pay.
However, some employers and employees have informal or contractual agreements (collective bargaining agreements) which require a set number of hours be considered hours worked. Some states also have such a requirement.
For more information, please contact your local Wage and Hour District Office or your state department of labor.
