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 your employee is a full-time employee who resides on your premises for an extended period of time, you may deduct up to 8 hours of sleep time per 24-hour period under the following conditions:

1. You and your employee have an agreement, prior to the performance of the work that permits the deduction from hours worked of up to 8 hours of sleep time, bona fide meal periods, and/or scheduled free time when your employee is completely relieved from duty.
2. Your employee resides on your premises for an extended period of time, which is defined as:
   • residing on the premises at least 120 hours per week, or
   • 5 consecutive days or nights.
3. Your employee sleeps on your premises for all sleep periods between the beginning and end of the 120 hour period or during the 5 consecutive days or nights.
4. Your employee must be compensated for at least 8 hours in each of the 5 consecutive 24-hour periods.
5. You provide your employee 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 your 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 your employee is a part-time relief employee, you may also deduct a maximum of 8 hours of sleep time from each 24-hour period under the following conditions:

1. You and your employee have an agreement, prior to the performance of the work that permits the deduction from hours worked of up to 8 hours of sleep time, bona fide meal periods, and/or scheduled free time when your employee is completely relieved from duty.
2. Your relief employee is substituting for a full-time employee. In other words, he or she works in the place of a full-time employee to provide that full-time employee with a respite from his or her duty.
3. Your employee resides on your premises for 1 – 3 nights.
4. Your employee must sleep on your premises during each night of the relief period.
5. Your relief employee and the full-time employee he or she is relieving may not be on duty at the same time for more than 1 hour per day.
6. You must compensate your relief employee for at least 8 hours in each 24-hour period on duty.
7. You furnish your relief employee 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 5 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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