# Not Paid Minimum Wage For Standby Or Reporting To Work > Employees should be paid for waiting to be called into work if the time spent for the employer’s benefit and not their own Source: https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/hoffman-hospice-not-minimum-wage-for-standby-time/ Firm: Employment Lawyers Group — employee-side employment lawyers since 1993. Serving Kern County, California. Phone: (661) 412-9600 (calling is the fastest way to reach the legal team) Office: 5401 Business Park S, #214, Bakersfield, CA 93309 Contact form: https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/contact/ Consultations are free and confidential; cases are taken on contingency. --- Our law firm continuously investigates single employee, group, and class actions against Kern County employers forcing employees to work on-call without paying them for the time spent waiting to be called into work. These situations often involve healthcare such as nurses, technicians, hospice employees, oil field workers, apartment maintenance workers, and all types of repair technicians. Attorney, Karl Gerber, has handled more on-call cases than any other lawyer in California. Please feel free to call us at (661) 412-9600. If you were paid you less than minimum wage to be on-call your employer may owe you the difference between minimum wage and what you were paid. However, in controlled standby cases we argue you should be paid your regular hourly wage opposed to minimum wage. On-call situations may also trigger what is referred to as, reporting time pay. Depending on which industry you worked in, there are different rules about how many hours you have to be paid if you have come back to work for less than half of your regular shift and whether that was on a day you already worked or not. **Standby** or **Controlled Standby** is a legal term. Under Federal Labor Laws, **time an employee spends on standby is considered work time the employee must be paid for** if the time is spent primarily for the benefit of the employer. In order to **determine if on-call, or standby time must be paid**, courts look at whether: 1. There is an on-premise living agreement 2. Whether there were excessive geographical restrictions on the employee's movements during the period of time they were on-call. We successfully handled a case in which we represented gauge readers on ships docked immediately outside of Long Beach because they could not engage in normal life activities such as going to a movie, an amusement park, or a social engagement with their family because they would have to leave and thereby waste their admission fees or disturb their family during the periods of time they were on-call. 3. Whether the frequency of calls was unduly restrictive. In other words, if the employer claims employees are on-call during a weekend, but in a year's period they are not likely to be called this may not be real **controlled standby**. However, if the employer disciplines the employee once the employee fails to report in on a **controlled standby** **weekend** there is a legal issue about whether the employee should be **paid for** **controlled standby** 4. Whether the on-call employee could easily trade-on-call responsibilities 5. Whether use of a pager (smart phone now) could ease the restrictions on having to be available. This might mean the employee has the ability to reject the assignment, or the employer begins paying them the moment the employee is called about the assignment 6. Whether the employee had actually engaged in personal activities during **on-call-time** 7. Strict requirements on how quickly the employee must report to work if on-call 8. The inability to reject on-call work ## Attorney, Karl Gerber's on-call work includes: - $875,000 for oil field service technicians - $800,000 for confined space, emergency rescue workers - $400,000 for 2 low voltage workers - $250,000 for a traveling nurse - $250,000 for short term rental workers During the pandemic, Karl Gerber, arbitrated to verdict a controlled standby case for an oil field worker Please feel free to contact our Kern County labor lawyers if you have any questions about whether you should be paid for controlled standby or an on-call employment situation [(661) 412-9600](tel:6614129600) ## 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 Kern County We have proudly served all of Kern County since 1993. Ready to discuss your case? (661) 412-9600 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://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/discrimination/) [Unpaid Wages & Overtime Recovering earnings for overtime, bonuses, commissions, meal & rest break violations, and prevailing wage claims.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/unpaid-wages/) [Sexual Harassment Compassionate and effective representation for sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/sexual-harassment/) [Wrongful Termination Representing employees terminated in violation of public policy, contracts, or California and federal law.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/wrongful-termination/) [Leaves & Retaliation Protecting employees who face adverse actions after reporting illegal activity or taking protected medical leave.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/leaves-of-absence/) [Whistleblowers Advocating for employees who report fraud, waste, or abuse under California and federal whistleblower protection laws.](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com/whistle-blower/) ## 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. Vineyard Ave, #400, Ontario CA 91764 [(909) 663-2100](tel:9096632100) ### San Diego [SanDiegoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://sandiegoemployeelawyer.com) 330 "A" St, #60, San Diego CA 92101 [(619) 320-3000](tel:6193203000) ### San Francisco / Bay Area [BayAreaEmploymentAttorney.net](https://bayareaemploymentattorney.net) 524 Union St, #400, San Francisco CA 94133 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### San Jose / Silicon Valley [SiValleyLaborLawyer.com](https://sivalleylaborlawyer.com) 111 N. Market St, #300, San Jose CA 95113 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### Sherman Oaks [WorkLawyerCA.com](https://worklawyerca.com) 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks CA 91423 [(818) 783-7300](tel:8187837300) ### Torrance / South Bay [JobTerminationLaw.com](https://jobterminationlaw.com/) 3655 Torrance Blvd, 3rd Floor, Torrance CA 90503 [(310) 842-8600](tel:3108428600) ### Ventura / Oxnard [VenturaEmploymentLawyer.com](https://venturaemploymentlawyer.com) 4030 West Hemlock St, Oxnard CA 93035 [(805) 200-0100](tel:8052000100) ### Additional Sites [BostonLaborLaw.com](https://bostonlaborlaw.com) [DcLaborAttorney.com](https://dclaborattorney.com) [FresnoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://fresnoemployeelawyer.com) [JobLawyer.net](https://joblawyer.net) [MarylandLaborAttorney.com](https://marylandlaborattorney.com/) [ModemStud.com](https://modemstud.com) [VintageLosAngeles.org](https://vintagelosangeles.org) [WorkplaceLawyer.org](https://workplacelawyer.org) ## About Firm Founder, Karl Gerber Firm Founder, **Karl Gerber**, has been an employment and wrongful termination attorney since **1993**. 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://bakersfieldlaborattorney.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 (661) 412-9600 Now](tel:6614129600)