MRA members frequently ask whether nonexempt employees must be paid for meetings, lectures and/or training time. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), this time is paid working time and counts toward the 40- hour threshold for overtime purposes unless all four of the following conditions are met:
- Attendance is truly voluntary; and
- The employee attends outside his/her regular working hours; and
- The session is not directly related to the employee’s current job; and
- The employee does not perform any productive work during the session.
In other words, if you answer “yes” to all four of the criteria above, then the time does not have to be paid.
