Summary: "Time Worked" That Must Be Paid under Colorado Law

Division of Labor Standards and Statistics
707 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202 | 303-318-8441
www.ColoradoLaborLaw.gov | www.LeyesLaboralesDeColorado.gov

Interpretive Notice & Formal Opinion ("INFO") #20:
Summary: "Time Worked" That Must Be Paid under Colorado Law

Employees must be paid for any time that counts as "time worked," also called "compensable time" or "paid time." This INFO #20 is a summary of the details in INFO #20A (what does and doesn't count as time worked under Colorado law), #20B (how time worked applies to different types of pay) and #20C (travel time and sleep time).

General Rule: Time worked is all time performing labor or services for employer benefit. That includes:

• Performing work. Time an employer benefitted from and permitted, even if it didn't require the time.
• Benefit to an employer doesn't require an employer to actually control the employee activities.
• Permission includes work the employer didn't expressly authorize — if the employer knew, or had reason to believe, employees worked for its benefit, including:
  • Work an employer knew or had reason to believe was done outside scheduled shifts; and
  • Off-site work, if the employer permitted it — such as allowing remote or home-based work.
• On-premises time in some cases, depending on why employees are on premises, may be time worked.
• Required presence at any location is time worked, even if no productive work is done.
• Choosing to be on-site, if completely relieved of duty (coming early or staying late to socialize with co-workers, or to eat in a break room) is not time worked.
• The continuous workday. Even if time is duty-free, it is time worked if it's after the start and before the end of other time worked — except for long enough breaks when fully relieved from duty.

Common Pre-/Post-Shift Tasks that Count as "Time Worked":

• Required clothing or gear pickup, dropoff, and putting on and off — except clothes worn outside work too;
• Checking in or out — whether for clocking, security, safety, or other purposes;
• Meetings or other information sharing or receiving before, after, or otherwise outside scheduled shifts;
• Post-shift clean-up, or similar off-the-clock duty before or after shifts; and
• Waiting for any of the above, whether in line or in a specific spot.[^1]

Waiting:
- Required waiting on-site, for work assignments or for other kinds of time worked, is time worked.
- On-call time off-site, and sleep time on-site, may or may not be time worked — depending on how restricted or unrestricted, and how interrupted or uninterrupted, the employee's time is.

Travel:
- Regular commuting is not time worked, unless it includes other time worked (such as work calls while driving) or follows other time worked (under the "continuous workday rule," above).
- Other travel for employer benefit is time worked — driving between appointments, etc.

Pay: Except for workers exempt from these wage and hour laws:

• All time worked must be tracked and paid, whether by hour, salary, piece rate, commission, etc.
• Time past 40 hours a week or 12 a day requires time-and-a-half overtime pay.[^2]
• Pay can be any agreed rate, as long as minimum wage or more is paid "for all hours worked," not just on average over a week or pay period.[^3]

[^1]: In contrast, federal law excludes various of these pre-/post-shift activities that Colorado law covers; see INFO #20A.
[^2]: For more on who is covered or exempt from overtime, or from other wage and hour requirements, see INFO #1.
[^3]: In contrast, some federal courts view federal law as requiring minimum wage only on average by week; see INFO #20B.

INFOs are not binding law, but are the officially approved Division opinions and notices on how it applies and interprets various statutes and rules. The Division continues to update and post new INFOs; email [email protected] with any suggestions. To be sure to reference up-to-date INFOs, rules, or other material, visit ColoradoLaborLaw.gov. Last updated Dec. 8, 2023