The Labor Standards Act defines and regulates working hours, stipulating that “the working hours in a day must not exceed 8 hours, and the working hours in a week must not exceed 40 hours.” Working hours refer to the time during which an employee is under the direction and supervision of the company. Any time spent performing tasks as instructed by the company is considered working hours.
This article explains which actions are counted as working hours and overtime.
Overtime Payment is Calculated in One-Minute Increments
In daily work, various circumstances might require working beyond statutory hours, such as extended customer interactions or unfinished tasks by the end of the workday. Even if the overtime is just one minute or one second, it is considered overtime. This rule is established by the Labor Standards Act to prevent disadvantaging workers by disregarding small time increments.
Therefore, it is illegal for a company to instruct employees to report overtime in 30-minute increments.
Changing Clothes
Some companies require employees to change clothes before and after work. If this is mandated by the company, the time spent changing clothes must be considered working hours.
If the workplace regulations state that “employees must wear the prescribed uniform during work hours,” and this is necessary for safety or hygiene reasons, the time spent changing into the uniform is included in working hours.
Morning Cleaning
In some workplaces, employees clean the workplace before the start of work. If this cleaning is done voluntarily to create a comfortable working environment, it might not count as working hours. However, if the cleaning is performed under a work order, it is considered working hours.
Telephone Duty During Lunch Break
If a workplace requires someone to answer the phone during a designated lunch break, the company must ensure the employee gets their break at a different time. If it is impossible to provide a break at another time, the employer must pay for that time.
For example, if the standard break is one hour, but an employee can only take a 30-minute break due to phone duty, the employer must pay for the 30 minutes of phone duty. If most of the break is spent on phone duty, the employer must pay the full wage equivalent to the break time.
Taking Work Home
Generally, work taken home is not considered working hours because it is not done under the employer’s direct supervision. However, if an employee is instructed by their supervisor to complete work at home by the next morning, this time should be considered working hours.
In such cases, employees can request overtime pay from the company.
Exceeding Fixed Overtime Hours
Fixed overtime, also known as deemed overtime, involves a set amount of overtime pay included in the monthly salary. If actual working hours exceed the fixed overtime hours, employees can request overtime pay for the excess hours.
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