Question:
Do we have to pay a nonexempt (hourly) employee to complete training courses outside of his normal working hours when it is a requirement for the job?
Answer:
The following information is excerpted from the U.S. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations:
Employees who spend time at lectures, work courses, employer-sponsored training programs or employee meetings must count that time as hours worked for pay purposes unless all of the following criteria are met:
- Time is outside of normal working hours.
- Coursework is unrelated to the employee’s regular job, such as learning the requirement of a new or higher-rated job.
- Attendance is strictly voluntary (except for continuing education training).
- No production work is performed.
Here are additional pointers on the legal obligations involved:
- An employer must compensate for mandatory training time unless it’s directly related to professional licensing;
- If an employee is required to attend training on a day not normally scheduled they must receive at least a half day’s pay;
- Time spent on voluntary training is not compensable if it’s outside normal working hours and not directly related to the employee’s job. For example, training a programmer on using a current application is compensable; paying for an MBA program so the employee can become a future manager is not;
- Training that directly benefits an employer is always compensable. For example, new-hire training on welding procedures on an object eventually purchased by a client is compensable; voluntary welding training that results in no end product is not.
- Training expenses can be reimbursed on a pro-rata basis if an employee agrees to do so beforehand and leaves the company a short time afterwards. So, if the employee goes through a year-long training program that costs the company $10,000 and they take another job a month later, it’s appropriate to demand reimbursement for most, if not all, of this expense;
- An employer that operates a for-fee training program cannot use completion of the program as a condition of hire.
To learn more go to http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/WH1312.pdf
