FLSA Hours Worked Advisor

Full-Time and Part-Time Relief Employees of Community Living Centers and Other Similar Facilities

Some employees, particularly those employed in community living centers, group homes, and halfway houses for the physically or developmentally disabled, reside on their employer’s premises on less than a permanent basis. For the following sleep time policies to apply, the community living center or other similar facility must have one or more full-time employees who either reside on the premises permanently or for extended periods of time.

If you’re a full-time employee who resides on your employer’s premises for an extended period of time, your employer may deduct up to eight hours of sleep time per 24-hour period under the following conditions:

1. You and your employer have an agreement, prior to the performance of the work that permits the deduction from hours worked of up to eight hours of sleep time, bona fide meal periods, and/or scheduled free time when the you are completely relieved from duty.
2. You reside on your employer’s premises for an extended period of time, which is defined as:
   • residing on the premises at least 120 hours per week, or
   • five consecutive days or nights.
3. You sleep on your employer’s premises for all sleep periods between the beginning and end of the 120 hour period or during the five consecutive days or nights.
4. You must be compensated for at least eight hours in each of the five consecutive 24-hour periods.
5. You're provided with private quarters in a homelike environment.
   • Private quarters means living quarters that are furnished, separate from the clients and from other staff members and have at a minimum the same furnishings available to clients (e.g., bed, table, lamp, chair, dresser, closet, etc.) in which the employee is able to leave his or her belongings during on- and off-duty periods.
   • Homelike environment means facilities including private quarters and including on the same premises facilities for cooking and eating; for bathing in private; and for recreation. The amenities and quarters must be suitable for long-term residence by individuals rather than those found in institutional facilities such as dormitories.

If you are a part-time relief employee, you may also have a maximum of eight hours of sleep time deducted from each 24-hour period under the following conditions:

1. You and your employer have an agreement, prior to the performance of the work that permits the deduction from hours worked of up to eight hours of sleep time, bona fide meal periods, and/or scheduled free time when you are completely relieved from duty.
2. You, as the relief employee, are substituting for a full-time employee. In other words, you work in the place of a full-time employee to provide that full-time employee with a respite from his or her duty.
3. You reside on your employer’s premises for one to three nights.
4. You must sleep on your employer’s premises during each night of the relief period.
5. You and the full-time employee you’re relieving may not be on duty at the same time for more than one hour per day.
6. You must be compensated for at least eight hours in each 24-hour period on duty.
7. You must be furnished with private quarters in a homelike environment (as defined above).

To deduct sleep time from either the full-time or part-time employee, the employee must be able to get at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep per night and must be paid for all interruptions to his or her sleep.

For more information, please contact your local Wage and Hour District Office.

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