44-1202. HOURS OF WORK AND COMPENSABLE TIME — DETERMINATION. In any and all suits, actions and court proceedings, whether now pending or hereafter instituted, for attorneys’ fees, liquidated damages, back or unpaid wages, salaries or compensation for work or labor performed in Idaho, where wages or salaries have been paid to any employee for a pay period, and such employee claims additional salary, wages, overtime compensation, penalties, liquidated damages or attorneys’ fees because of work done and services performed during his employment for the pay period covered by such payment, the following is and shall be the definition of "hours worked," and of time put in for which attorneys’ fees, liquidated damages, back or unpaid wages, salaries, or compensation may be recovered:

In determining "hours worked" or compensable time for which recovery may be had in such actions for attorneys’ fees, liquidated damages, back or unpaid wages, salaries or compensation, the following rules shall be applied:

(1) Wherever the custom or practice of a business, industry, plant, mine, factory or place of work has established the amount of noncompensable time to be spent by an employee in travelling to and from the place of work, in preparing for productive work, in changing clothes before and after a shift, taking showers, securing and returning tools and equipment, in no event shall time so spent be deemed, held or considered to be time or hours worked;

(2) Wherever time spent traveling to or from the place of work, and the preliminary preparation for productive work, and time spent after a regular shift in preparing to leave the place of work, has been taken into consideration in fixing the rate of pay, it shall not be deemed, held or considered to be time or hours worked;

(3) In no event shall any of the following be deemed, held or considered as time or hours worked:

(a) Time spent before beginning of shift in checking in;

(b) Time spent in going to or returning from lunch;

(c) Time spent in change room, taking showers, changing clothes, securing tools and equipment;

(d) Time spent before actual shift starts in receiving instructions;

(e) Time spent on employers’ property after end of shift;

(f) Time spent after end of shift in returning tools and equipment, receiving or giving orders, and making reports;

(g) Time spent in traveling to or from the place of work;

(h) Time spent in waiting in line for payment of wages or salaries;

(i) Time spent in any incidental activities before or after work, which may involve activities which are excluded from compensable work time by industry practice, custom or agreement.

History:

[44-1202, added 1947, ch. 267, sec. 2, p. 789.]