# Employees Paid For Sleeping, Los Angeles Employment Lawyer > Los Angeles employees on 24-hour shifts may be owed pay for sleep time under California law. Find out if your employer owes you wages. Source: https://worklawyerca.com/employees-paid-sleeping-los-angeles/ Firm: Employment Lawyers Group — employee-side employment lawyers since 1993. Serving Los Angeles County, California. Phone: (818) 783-7300 (calling is the fastest way to reach the legal team) Office: 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 Contact form: https://worklawyerca.com/contact/ Consultations are free and confidential; cases are taken on contingency. --- California law regulating what hourly workers must be paid for differs from the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). This is an example of how California law is more favorable than Federal Law which provides the minimum working protections possible for workers. **In California, non-exempt employees who work twenty four hours or more a day must be paid for time sleeping unless a series of circumstances are met.** 1) **The employer must allow the employee the ability to have uninterrupted sleep for more than five hours.** If the employee is free to do what they want during these five hours and they choose not to sleep, the employer does not have to pay them provided the last two criteria are met; 2)**The time excluded for uninterrupted sleep cannot be more than eight hours;** 3) T**he employer must furnish adequate sleeping facilities.** A room with a bed might constitute adequate sleep facilities, and a motel or hotel would. More interesting questions would be whether a weather proof tent would constitute adequate facilities, and it probably would if the job was somewhere away from normally constructed shelter, but probably not if it was a security officer working at a hospital. Presuming there is a twenty four or more hour consecutive shift, and all of the above criteria are met, the next question is whether uninterrupted meal breaks are excluded from determining that there is a twenty four hour shift. For instance, if the employee took two half hour, uninterrupted meal breaks only twenty three hours would have been worked. Thus, the rule about being paid to sleep really involves twenty five hour consecutive shifts if the employer has correctly paid the meal breaks. If the employee’s schedule is less than twenty four hours, the employee is not entitled to be paid if they sleep. Questions would exist as to how many uninterrupted meal breaks the employee is entitled to, and how much they should be paid in overtime and double time pay. What is stated above is the general law. Complications arise if the employee is required to stay on the premises when they sleep. Some positions are exempt from the employee being paid to sleep if an employee is required to live on premises, or stay in the employer’s home. Other positions require written agreements for the employer to avoid paying the employee for all hours spent on premises. There are too many scenarios, exemptions, and industries to write about so it is best to consult with an[unpaid wages attorney](https://worklawyerca.com/unpaid-wages-attorney-los-angeles/) who is highly skilled and experienced in wage and hour cases. These are not issues a general practitioner would know, and they are not even issues many labor lawyers know off the top of their head. These issues are based upon a variety of different wage orders, [California Codes of Regulation](https://worklawyerca.com/los-angeles-retaliation/), California Statutes and Federal Statutes, Federal cases, and opinion letters. Lawyers familiar with these issues would need a proper law library to answer these questions. This type of information is not available all in one place, and requires the synthesis of information by somebody skilled in this area. ## Employers pay employees for sleeping, a few laws Some of the laws generally governing whether employers have to pay for sleep time are 29 C.F.R. 785.21; 29 C.F.R. 785.22(a); Division of Labor Standards Enforcement Policy and Interpretations Manual (rev. 2009); Wage and Hour Opinion Letter No. 2102 C.C.H. Section 32,944 (1999); Wage and Hour Opinions Letters No. 1929, C.C.H. 32,759 (1998); No. 1559,C .C.H. 31,362 (1981); *Aguilar v. Association For Retarded Citizens*, 234 Cal.App.3d 21 (1991); *Monzon v. Schaefer Ambulance*, 224 Cal.App.3d 16 (1990); *Service Employees Local 102 v. County of San Diego*, 35 F.3d 483 (9th Cir. 1994); *General Electric v. Porter*, 208 F.2d 805 (9th Cir. 1953); *Johnson v. City of Columbia*, 949 F.2d 127 (4th Cir. 1991); *Hultgren v. County of Lancaster*, 913 F.2d 498 (8th Cir. 1990); *Van Dyke v. Bluefrield Gas Co.,* 210 F.2d 620 (4th Cir. 1954); *Beaston v. Scotland*, 693 F.Supp. 234 (MD Pa. 1988). Employees may estimate the number of hours they worked, and were not paid, if the employer has inadequate payroll records. In every jury trial, the jury is given an instruction on what the law is. If the**employer has failed to keep accurate records of the hours** that the employee works, or does not bring them to trial, the following jury instruction is read: State law requires California employers to keep payroll records showing the hours worked by and wages paid to employees. If Defendants have not presented accurate information about the hours worked by the Plaintiff then your decision may be based upon a reasonable estimate of the hours worked, CACI 2703. *Hernandez v. Mendoza*, 199 Cal.App.3d 721, 727-728, 245 Cal.Rptr. 36 (1988) is in accord with federal precedent stating and states: Although the employee has the burden of proving that he performed work for which he was not compensated, public policy prohibits making that burden an impossible hurdle for the employee. In such situations the employee has carried out his burden if he proves that he has in fact performed work for which he was improperly compensated and if he produces sufficient evidence to show the amount and extent of that work as a matter of just and reasonable inference. The burden then shifts to the employer to come forward with evidence of the precise amount of work performed with evidence to negative the reasonableness of the inference to be drawn from the employee’s evidence. if the employer fails to produce such evidence, the court may then award damages to the employee, even though the result be only approximate. ### **Attorney for employees who are paid for sleeping** Do not be afraid to file a lawsuit for unpaid wages, including overtime, if you or your employer do not have completely accurate records of the times you worked such as through time cards. However, do not exaggerate your claims of hours worked. If you have questions about whether you should be paid when you work a twenty four hour, or shorter shift, please feel free to contact us at **(818) 783-7300**. ## Our Firm: No Upfront Fees or Costs ### Contingency Fee Representation All employment cases for employees are taken on a **contingency basis**. We are only paid a fee **when and if we win** your case, and we **advance all litigation costs**. Our goal is to make expert legal representation accessible to every hardworking employee. ### Serving Los Angeles County We have proudly served all of Los Angeles County since 1993. Ready to discuss your case? (818) 783-7300 Submit A Contact Form The Employment Lawyers Group has successfully handled 2,000+ Separate California Employment Cases ## Media Engagements ## Sample Case Results breach of commission contract $1,150,000 Unpaid commissions of two plaintiffs unpaid wages $875,000 For 4 oil field service industry workers whose times worked were not recorded on timesheets and were on-call forced to work without pay standby pay case $800,000 Controlled stand by class action settlement Disclaimer: These results are based on the facts of these specific cases and do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case. ## Practice Areas [Discrimination Age, Disability, FMLA/CFRA, Gender, National Origin, Pregnancy, Race, and Sexual Orientation discrimination claims.](https://worklawyerca.com/discrimination-attorney-8-facts-to-prove/) [Unpaid Wages & Overtime Recovering earnings for overtime, bonuses, commissions, meal & rest break violations, and prevailing wage claims.](https://worklawyerca.com/unpaid-wages-attorney-los-angeles/) [Sexual Harassment Compassionate and effective representation for sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims.](https://worklawyerca.com/sexual-harassment/) [Wrongful Termination Representing employees terminated in violation of public policy, contracts, or California and federal law.](https://worklawyerca.com/wrongful-termination-settlements/) [Leaves & Retaliation Protecting employees who face adverse actions after reporting illegal activity or taking protected medical leave.](https://worklawyerca.com/leave-of-absence-lawyer-los-angeles/) [Whistleblowers Advocating for employees who report fraud, waste, or abuse under California and federal whistleblower protection laws.](https://worklawyerca.com/los-angeles-whistle-blower-lawyer/) ## Our California Locations ### Bakersfield [BakersfieldLaborAttorney.com](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com) 5401 Business Park S, #214, Bakersfield CA 93309 [(661) 412-9600](tel:6614129600) ### Los Angeles [EmployeeLawCA.com](https://employeelawca.com/) 611 Wilshire Blvd, #1023, Los Angeles CA 90017 [(323) 525-1600](tel:3235251600) ### Orange County [WorkLawyerOC.com](https://worklawyeroc.com) 2522 Chambers Rd, #100, Tustin CA 92780 [(714) 210-8000](tel:7142108000) ### Riverside [RiversideEmploymentLawyer.com](https://riversideemploymentlawyer.com) 9496 Magnolia Ave, #208, Riverside CA 92503 [(951) 367-1000](tel:9513671000) ### Sacramento [SacramentoLaborAttorney.com](https://sacramentolaborattorney.com) 777 Campus Commons Rd, #200, Sacramento CA 95825 [(916) 340-0000](tel:9163400000) ### San Bernardino [EmploymentAttorneySanBernardino.com](https://employmentattorneysanbernardino.com) 337 N. 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He has represented a wide range of employees throughout California. Mr. Gerber has won **51 of the binding arbitrations and jury trials** he first chaired, and a number of his appeals are published. This deep trial experience is the foundation of the firm's strategic approach to litigation. The employment attorneys employed by the Employment Lawyers Group have worked at the firm well in excess of five years, have also tried many different labor cases, and have all been **extensively trained on employment and wrongful termination law by Karl Gerber**. [Meet Karl Gerber](https://worklawyerca.com/karl-gerber/) ## Ready to Discuss Your Case? Your rights as an employee matter. Submit a contact form and we'll get back to you. Submit A Contact Form [Call (818) 783-7300 Now](tel:8187837300)