Employees say they should be paid for computer boot up and shut down time

Ever heard of a “soft phone?” It allows phone calls to be received through a computer. There’s no additional hardware, other than the computer running the program, needed to accept a call. Call centers use this technology. Just one question: Should an employer pay its employees for the time it takes to boot up their computer and to shut it down? One employer found out that the answer is “yes.” Read on.

Dialing into the facts
Connexx operates a call center that provides customer service and scheduling for an appliance recycling business. Employees operating the soft phones use their computers to perform their jobs, which includes not just receiving calls, but also accessing scripts, customer information, and email functionality.

They turn on their computers, log in with a username and password, and open the timekeeping system. Depending on the age of the computer and whether it’s fully shut down or in sleep mode, it can take between 6.8 to 12.1 minutes to complete this boot up time.

Well, to update a well-known expression, a few minutes here and a few minutes there, and soon, you’re talking some serious coin (not just for the employee, but for the employer).

Dialing into the law
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) contains a provision called the Portal-to-Portal Act. It mandates that an employee be paid for any activity (pre and post shift) that’s tied to the job that the worker is employed to perform.

Let’s do a sample run down. Think of these examples as end points on a continuum. The following tasks are compensable: