Daylight Savings Time Change This Weekend
On Sunday, November 3 at 2:00 a.m., daylight savings time will end and we will set our clocks back one hour. As it does every year, this change presents a challenge for employers whose non-exempt employees are working during that time.
Employees working the graveyard shift when Daylight Savings Time begins work one hour less because the clocks are set ahead one hour. Those employees working the graveyard shift when Daylight Savings Time ends work an extra hour because the clocks are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m.
For example:
The scheduled shift starts at 11:00 p.m. and ends at 7:30 a.m. the next day, your employee works an eight-hour shift and receives a 30-minute lunch break.
- On the Sunday that Daylight Savings Time starts at 2:00 a.m., the employee does not work the hour from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. because at 2:00 a.m. all of the clocks are turned forward to 3:00 a.m. Thus, on this day the employee only worked 7 hours, even though the schedule was for 8 hours.
- On the Sunday that Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 a.m., the employee works the hour from 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. twice because at 2:00 a.m. all of the clocks are turned back to 1:00 a.m. Thus, on this day the employee worked 9 hours, even though the schedule only reflected 8 hours.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employees must be credited with all of the hours actually worked. Therefore, if the employee is in a work situation similar to that described in the above example, he or she worked 7 hours on the day that Daylight Savings Time begins and 9 hours on the day that Daylight Savings Time ends. This assumes, of course, that the employee actually worked the scheduled shift as in our example.
In addition, Employers should ensure that they do not have any additional obligations under a collective bargaining agreement.
Please contact us with any questions.
*This MEA Member Alert is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://meainfo.org/app/uploads/2014/10/holly-depalma.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Holly DePalma
Director of HR Serviceshdepalma@meainfo.org[/author_info] [/author]