Do Wage and Hour Laws Apply to "On Call" Time?

If you are required to be "on call" for your job, that is considered paid time for purposes of wage and hour laws, unless you are (i) not required to be at the worksite; and (ii) you are effectively free to use the time for your own purposes if there is no call for your services.

The question of whether you are "effectively free" to use the time is a matter of degree, and depends on factors such as the frequency of the calls, requirements of immediate or very short response times, the length of periods of inactivity, and to what extent the employer requires a response to the calls.

If you are salaried and exempt from overtime, there is no separate pay for "on call" time.

Learn more here about wage and hour laws in Massachusetts.