Congratulations on your new job! You may be exhilarated, anxious, or feeling like you don’t know what you are doing. Relax! Employers know that a new environment can be intimidating, and to get you off on the right foot, they might schedule you for training. Or you may be scheduled for training when a new system is adopted. If you are about to start training, you are probably wondering if you must pay for a training course or if your employer is obligated to pay you for your time.
Federal law, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), defines what activities count as work, and if they count as work, your employer must pay you. Generally, on-the-job training or coursework counts as work—although there are some exceptions—so let’s make sure your employer is not cheating you.
Payment for Job Training
Several factors determine payment for training, including:
- Whether what you are asked to do is required for your work
- When the training is scheduled for
- Whether you are a member of a labor union
- State law
- Your employer’s stated policies
Generally, you are entitled to be paid for training unless all four of the following conditions are true:
- Participation in the training is not required by your employer
- Training is scheduled for non-work hours
- Training is not related to your job
- You do not perform work during training, such as creating a presentation with new software your employer is adopting
Determining if training is related to your job or whether you are performing work related to your job during training depends on your job description. For example, if you are a scheduler and a new system is being installed to track and schedule employees’ work weeks, you should be paid for training. If you provide janitorial services and only attend the scheduling training because lunch is being served, you would not be paid for attending.
What About College Courses?
Your employer may require all management positions to be filled by those with bachelor’s degrees or higher. Many private sector employers do pay for current employees to finish their degrees so they can move up in the company, but if you decide to take college courses in anticipation of applying for a management position, unless your employer specifies that they will pay as company policy, you will most likely foot the bill.
Who Pays for Courses and Related Materials?
Another scenario includes the requirement that you attend a training program with an admission fee and materials that must also be purchased.
State law varies. For instance, California requires employers to pay for all costs related to mandatory training. Other states allocate training-related costs to employers only if it is company policy or an employment contract spells it out. Union member employees may get a different answer from their collective bargaining agreements. The best place to begin looking for answers is your employee handbook, which, if it is a good one, will discuss whether the employer pays fees and materials for mandatory job training.
How We Can Help You
If your employer refuses to pay the time you spend for mandatory job training, we can review your situation and potentially advise you, represent you for wage and hour violations, and file a lawsuit to get the money back that you lost because of your employer’s error.
Do not try to settle job training issues on your own. You have limited time to file a claim. We help workers across the country and at all kinds of companies.
If you are unsure when you should be paid for job training, take advantage of our free review by using our online chat or submitting a form now.
