Compensability of Training Time

Employment Related Training Programs

Employer-Sponsored Training Programs

Generally, time spent attending employer-sponsored training programs is compensable for nonexempt employees.

However, when the activity meets all of the following four criteria, an exception applies to required compensation:

• Attendance is outside of the employee’s regular working hours.

• Attendance is voluntary.

• The course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the employee’s job.

• The employee does not perform any productive work during such attendance.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, attendance at training programs is involuntary if any of the following apply:

• The employer requires attendance.

• It is the employee’s understanding, or the employee is lead to believe, that present working conditions or continuance of employment would be adversely affected by nonattendance.

Training is directly related to an employee’s job if it is designed to make the employee more effective in their current position in the workplace, as distinguished from training that an employee receives for another job or for a new or additional skill.

For example, when a training program is designed to prepare an employee for advancement or promotion, rather than make the employee more effective in their current position, the training is not considered to be directly related to the employee’s job.