3. Should on-call or standby time be counted as ‘hours worked’?
If an employee while being on-call or standby is in attendance at a place of employment in accordance with the contract of employment or with the agreement or at the direction of the employer, such on-call or standby time is hours worked for computing minimum wage. On the other hand, if he is not in attendance at a place of employment during the on-call or standby time, such time is not hours worked for computing minimum wage.
A place of employment means any place at which the employee is, in accordance with the contract of employment or with the agreement or at the direction of the employer, in attendance for the purpose of doing work or receiving training.
Example 1:
An employee’s working hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. According to the contract of employment, he and his colleagues are required to take turns for attendance at the workplace from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for on-call duties once a week in order to provide emergency services upon clients’ calls. During the on-call time, he is not allowed to leave the workplace without permission. Since the employee in this example is, in accordance with the contract of employment, in attendance at the place of employment while being on-call, the on-call time from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. is hours worked for computing minimum wage.
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