U.S. Department of Labor
FLSA Hours Worked Advisor
Employees Residing on the Employer's Premises on a Permanent Basis For Extended Periods of Time or Working at Home
Some employees work at home or live on their employer's premises on a permanent basis or for extended periods of time. Examples include an apartment complex maintenance person who lives in the apartment complex , a house parent in a group home or a college student employed as a "resident assistant" who lives in the dormitory. If this describes your employment situation, all of the time spent at home or at your employer's premises is not hours worked. Ordinarily, you have time to engage in normal private activities such as sleeping, eating, entertaining, and other periods of complete freedom from all duties when you are able to leave the premises and use the time as you choose.
Reasonable Agreement
It’s difficult to determine the exact hours worked under these circumstances and any reasonable agreement between you and your employer which takes into consideration all of the applicable facts will be accepted. In this regard, you may wish to review the waiting time, meal periods and sleep time sections of this Advisor. The agreement must indicate the number of hours you are to work and the hours you may use for personal activities.
The reasonable agreement must be an employer-employee agreement and not a unilateral decision by the employer. Such an agreement should normally be in writing in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding of the terms and conditions of your employment. It must account for the time spent working and the time when you may engage in normal private activities, with sufficient time for eating, sleeping, entertaining and other periods of complete freedom.
The reasonable agreement should consider all relevant factors including any restrictions or limitations on the use of your personal time and the expected interruptions to eating and sleeping periods. Whether you are really free to use personal time as you wish will depend on what actually happens, regardless of the provisions of the written agreement.
The following is an example of a reasonable agreement: a resident assistant in the university dormitory has an agreement with the university to be available for the dormitory residents five hours each day (from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) Monday through Friday and to respond to any emergencies in the dormitory. The resident assistant may use the rest of his or her time for attending classes, studying, going to sporting events or concerts, etc., as he or she chooses. The university considers as hours worked the five hours per day (Monday through Friday) that the resident assistant is available to residents and any time spent responding to emergencies in the dormitory.
An exact record of hours worked is not required if you’re living on your employer's premises or working at home. Your employer may keep a time record showing the schedule adopted in the agreement and indicate that your work time generally was the same as the agreement or schedule.
If you and your employer find that there is a great difference between the hours you agreed to work and the hours needed to do the job, a new agreement must be reached which reflects the actual hours you are required to work. All of the time you spend working is hours worked.
Visit the homeworkers section of this Advisor to learn more about performing work at home for an employer. For more information, please contact your local Wage and Hour District Office.
