Service & commerce
Call centers: surge on-call shifts and boot-up time
The short answer
Agents required to hold themselves available for surge coverage are owed pay when the restrictions prevent personal use of the time under 29 C.F.R. § 785.17, and booting systems and loading software before the first call is compensable preliminary work under 29 C.F.R. § 790.8. The Department of Labor treats call center agents' start-up time as hours worked in Wage and Hour Opinion Letter FLSA2020-1.
Boot-up and log-in time
Starting a computer and opening the tools needed to take calls is integral and indispensable work under 29 C.F.R. § 790.8 and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, 574 U.S. 27 (2014), and the de minimis doctrine is narrow under 29 C.F.R. § 785.47.
Surge and standby scheduling
Where agents must stay logged in or reachable during an unpaid window, the restrictions are judged under 29 C.F.R. § 785.17 and Owens v. Local No. 169, 971 F.2d 347 (9th Cir. 1992). California counts controlled time as hours worked under IWC Wage Order 4-2001 § 2(K).
Remote work hours
Employers must track hours for remote employees and pay for work they know or have reason to believe was performed under 29 C.F.R. § 785.11 and 29 C.F.R. § 785.12. California rejects the de minimis defense for regular increments under Troester v. Starbucks Corp., 5 Cal. 5th 829 (2018).
Facts that usually decide these cases
- Unpaid boot-up and software load time
- Mandatory availability windows without pay
- Remote hours the employer does not track
- Short unpaid tasks between calls
Weighed together under the framework of Owens v. Local No. 169, 971 F.2d 347 (9th Cir. 1992): Geographic restriction — how far you may travel while on call; Response time — how many minutes you have to answer or arrive; Call frequency — how often the phone actually rings; Personal interference — what the rotation stops you from doing; Trade or refusal rights — whether you can hand the shift off.
Frequently asked questions
- Is boot-up time before my shift paid?
- Yes. Starting the systems needed to do the job is compensable under 29 C.F.R. § 790.8 and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, 574 U.S. 27 (2014), a position the Department of Labor took for call center agents in Wage and Hour Opinion Letter FLSA2020-1.
- I work from home and log extra minutes. Do those count?
- Yes, employers must pay for work they know about or should know about under 29 C.F.R. § 785.11 and 29 C.F.R. § 785.12, and California rejects the de minimis defense under Troester v. Starbucks Corp., 5 Cal. 5th 829 (2018).
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