FLSA Hours Worked Advisor

When your sleep period is interrupted by a call to duty, the interruption must be counted as hours worked. If the interruptions are so frequent that you aren’t able to get a reasonable night's sleep, that entire sleep period must be counted as hours worked. This determination is made on the basis of what happens during each sleep period.

As an enforcement policy, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) considers that a reasonable night's sleep means you’re able to get a total of at least five hours of reasonable periods of sleep during the scheduled sleep period. These five hours need not be continuous uninterrupted hours of sleep. If five hours of sleep isn’t possible, the WHD asserts that no sleep time can be deducted from the hours you’re required to be on duty in that 24-hour period.

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