ABC Corporation sometimes conducts
in-house, during-the-workday, performance-improvement training for
its employees. Its Policy Manual includes a sentence saying,
"The Company pays for the time employees spend in work-related
training."
One day, Human Resources Director
Janice gets a visit from Electronics Technician Bob. Bob says
that he has been improving his job performance on his own by taking
an Electronics Manufacturing and Servicing night course at the
local community college for the last three months. He wants
to know how he goes about getting compensated for this class
attendance and home study.
Janice replies that the U.S.
Department of Labor says an employer does not have to pay federal
Fair Labor Standards Act wages for the time a worker spends at his
or her own initiative taking courses at an independent college
after hours, even if the courses are directly related to the
employee's job. Bob responds that he is not concerned
about the FLSA; he
