If you are required to be on duty at your place of employment for less than 24 hours at a time, the U.S. Labor Department allows you to count as payable any time that you are allowed to sleep during your shift of duty.
If you are required to be at work for more than 24 hours at a time — for example, if you work as a “live-in” housekeeper — you and your employer may agree to exclude up to eight hours per day from your payable time as sleep and meal periods.
However, if the conditions are such that you cannot get at least five hours of sleep during your eight-hour sleep-and-eat period, or if you end up working during that period, then those eight hours end up to being payable time.
David Payab, Esq. from The Law Offices of Payab & Associates can be reached @ (818) 918-5522 or by visiting http://payablaw.com/
