Service tech not owed pay for ‘on call’ hours spent not working, 10th Circuit says

Some employers may designate employees for on-call status, requiring them to be available to respond to after-hours service needs or emergencies. A recent decision from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in Oklahoma, Kansas, and four other states) offers direction on whether and under what circumstances a company should pay an on-call employee for hours they aren’t actually performing work.

On-call technical service engineer

Omnicell is a healthcare technology company that sells and maintains medical control devices, such as cabinets that dispense medication and robots that fill prescriptions. After each sale, Omnicell offers troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance services to its customers, the majority of which are hospitals and healthcare facilities.

In his position as a technical service engineer for Omnicell, Larry Barnes was responsible for responding to customers’ repair and maintenance requests. Within one hour of receiving such a request, he was required to make initial contact with the customer. For urgent needs, he was required to make an on-site visit within six hours. Non-urgent problems or situations requiring replacement parts could be scheduled several hours or days after the service request.