you'll get many different answers here too - will work for food

Thanks for your reply! - justabouthadit

I wouldn't - Work for food 2

from my TSM - anon

Policy - justabouthadit

It does not seem fair not to get paid while waiting. - dnr

What a load. . . - anon

But... - Des

Addendum... - Des

I found this, which supports your statement, but doesn't necessarily waive our rights. It seems that it is at the discretion of the employer; and, of course, MTSOs will say that we are free to come and go as we please while we're waiting for work, which would release them of the responsibility of paying us while we're waiting. HOWEVER, since we have strict line count requirements and are most often REQUIRED to make up our time whenever there IS work, this restricts our ability to come and go as we please during our scheduled workweek and our scheduled off time (some of us have to come in at all hours of the day and night just to get work), thereby making the MTSOs responsible for paying us for this time spent waiting for work.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I'm out of work, I stay very close to my computer and check often to see if work has trickled in. This significantly limits my "come and go" ability, as I can't go grocery shopping, can't begin a project at home, can't go take a nap, etc. These limitations on our time during our required schedule hours make the MTSOs responsible for paying us. I know they'll say we don't HAVE to do this, but they'll make it impossible to survive if we don't.

Here's some more info:

"Uncontrolled Standby. An employee who must be available to respond to a request by the employer to return to work for an emergency may be on uncontrolled standby if the employee is completely unrestricted to use his or her time for their own purposes. Such "free" standby time is not under the control of the employer and, thus, need not be paid.

Controlled Standby. If the employee's time is so restricted that she cannot pursue personal activities and come and go as she pleases, the employer is considered to have direction and control of the employee. The DLSE has adopted the test which the California Supreme Court announced in the case of Madera Police Officers Assn. v. City of Madera (1984) 36 Cal.3d 403, and will apply that test to determine the extent of control.

The Madera court applied a two-part preliminary analysis to determine whether the time was compensable. The first part of the test measures whether the restrictions placed on the employee are primarily directed toward the fulfillment of the employer's requirements and policies. Second, is the employee substantially restricted so as to be unable to attend to private pursuits? 

Regarding the second prong of the test, the Madera court also indicated that the trier of fact must examine the restrictions cumulatively to assess their overall effect on the worker's uncompensated time. In other words, the net impact of the restrictions must be considered. Note that the court did not hold that no restrictions as to time and space could be placed on the employee; only that the restrictions could not be substantial enough to prevent the employee from attending to private pursuits. 

The factors to be considered in determining whether an employee is on controlled standby are similar to the federal guidelines and include:

(1) whether there are excessive geographical restrictions on employees' movements; (2) whether the frequency of calls is unduly restrictive; (3) whether a required response time is unduly restrictive; (4) whether the on-call employee can easily trade his on-call responsibilities with another employee, and (6) the extent of personal activities engage d in during o n-call time. (O.L . 1998.12.28)

The simple requirement that the employee wear a cell phone, pager or beeper, standing alone, does not require that the employee be paid for all the hours the device is on. Additionally, the DLSE does not take the position that simply requiring the employee to respond to call backs is so inherently intrusive as to require a finding that the employee is under the control of the employer. Such factors as (1) geographical restrictions on employee's movements; (2) required response time; (3) the nature of the employment; and, (4) the extent the employer's policy would impact on personal activities during on-call time, must all be considered.

The bottom-line consideration is the amount of "control" exercised by the employer over the activities of the employee. In some cases, the employer can be said to be exercising some control over his employee at all times. For instance, the "duty of loyalty" found in Labor Code §2863 requires that employees give   preference to the business of his employer over any personal business of the employee. However, such attenuated "control" does not give rise to an obligation to pay the employee. However, once the employer exercises immediate control over the employee's activities, the employee must be compensated for this time. (O.L. 1993.03.31, 1992.01.28)"

Yeah, so go do something else, watch TV, fold laundry, meditate - whatever floats your boat

do you stay clocked in for this - just wondering

no; not clocked in - anon

You are doing piece work that you signed up for... - sm

Wrong, we are employees, not seamstresses - I do not sew

very true. I would rather do piece work at home than go clock in for 8 hours straight any day - people will always find something to complain abou

except then there's that time clock - see message

Piecework - justabouthadit

Actually by law we are not piecework employees.. - me

incorrect - MT is not piece work - nm

well technically it is - because we get paid by the line but see msg

no, technically it is not - nm

I don't know how you can say that - we are paid on production

Better than previously just sitting there your whole shift - Former JLG MT

out of work policy question - neenee

How I handle it is just - pretty much do

I do this too! - shhhhhh....

Stay clocked in for legal minimum wage - xx

They aren't really paying us, though - unless we average less than minimum wage for the w

Exactly, that's what they are doing NM - xx

depart of labor rules link FYI - xx

Out of work as we - speak...

It's YOUR choice to work for cents per line rather than - sm

I am getting paid by the hour. - Not my choice.