The California Wage Orders require that employees be paid for
"all hours worked." Mendiola v. CPS Security, a
California Supreme Court opinion issued yesterday, addressed how to
treat 24-hour security guards at construction sites when they were
sleeping in their trailers.
Under federal law, the time would not need to be paid. But here
in California, as we've mentioned once or twice, the
rules are different. The court noted that Wage Order 5, for public
housekeeping workers (which includes hospitals), incorporates
aspects of the federal standard. But this case arose under Wage
Order 4 (for professional, clerical, and similar occupations),
which did not incorporate that same standard (except for certain
healthcare workers). The court concluded, therefore, that sleep
time must be paid. In doing so, it overturned a line of state
appellate decisions that said the parties could agree that sleep
time would not be paid.
