I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, but I'm looking for confirmation from others more experienced than I. My roommate went into training for a job at a local college where her duties are to be in an office for a certain amount of time (14 hours guaranteed a week iirc) and then to go on call in case she's needed. It's essentially a conference attendant, but for night time, so she's expected to be on call in case a conference guest needs something or in case there is an incident. When she is on call, she is expected to stay awake and stay in a university-provided apartment unit, close to the conference center and ready to respond.
She is currently in the process of getting this in writing, but according to the manager training her, SHE WILL NOT BE PAID FOR TIME ON CALL. Instead, she will ONLY be paid for time spent responding to any incidents that come up. She has been trained to clock in RIGHT as she LEAVES the apartment to respond, so technically not even getting paid for any time spent on the phone.
In my mind this is utterly insane and violates FLSA. She is on-call in a work-adjacent place, not allowed to do exactly what she likes with her time. It's not even like they just want her to be within a certain proximity of the college, since our apartment as close as the one they want her to stay on call in, and she was told she MUST stay in the university building on university property. Therefore, she should be compensated for her on-call time. Every second of it, not just “if something happens.”
Does anyone else have any insight on this? Should my friend bail on this job, or try to talk to them about the FLSA and pursue getting paid for that on-call time? If she can get paid for that time, it's a fairly lucrative job for what it demands. If not, she's really conflicted on whether to keep the job, put in minimum effort, and take a second job, or to just leave the job and find a better opportunity.
Thanks!