POLICY GUIDE

On-call Pay
When and How?

Any employee can be required to serve on-call duty. There is no requirement to provide additional compensation when:

• the employee is FLSA exempt; or
• the employee is non-exempt and the on-call assignment is not restrictive.

Agencies however, are authorized to grant on-call pay or compensatory leave as pay supplements in these situations. Where compensation is provided, a typical rate of on-call pay would be one hour of pay or leave for each 8-hour shift served. If on-call pay is provided to a non-exempt employee, it must be included in the employee's regular rate for computing overtime pay.

If the employee is non-exempt, and the on-call assignment is restrictive, the FLSA considers it work time. The employee must then be paid for the on-call hours and the hours must be counted toward the 40-hour workweek limit for determining the employee's overtime pay.

Restrictive on-call assignments are those where the employee is unable to conduct personal business, such as when the employee is required to remain in one location, sitting by the telephone waiting for a call, etc. On-call assignments may also be considered restrictive if the employee is not relieved from the assignment for long periods of time (e.g., several months), so that the employee is never able to leave a limited geographical area during this extended time period. Periodically carrying a cell phone or pager and having to respond within a reasonable amount of time would not be considered restrictive.

The employee must also be paid for actual work time when the employee is called in to work. These general rules are subject to variations in the particular circumstances that apply to the employee or the agency. DHRM is the point of contact if an agency needs assistance with determining how on-call assignments should be compensated.

In-band Adjustments and the Fiscal Year

Compensation Policy 3.05 states that:

“An employee may receive more than one in-band adjustment (including Lateral Role Change) within a fiscal year provided the increases do not exceed 10%. (Each percentage increase is added to the employee's current salary.)”

For purposes of administering in-band adjustments, a fiscal year is June 25th – June 24th.

"Walking Breaks"

As part of the Governor's Health Virginians Initiative, state employees are being encouraged to “use a daily 15-minute break for walking or other exercise.” Policy 1.25, Hours of Work, states that “ Agency managers may grant employees who work an eight-hour day or longer a maximum of one 15-minute rest break before and one 15-minute rest break after the required lunch period. Rest breaks are included in the required hours of work per day.”

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