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Many workers in Illinois are required to be "on call" as a regular part of their job. If you are one of these employees, whether you are on call regularly or once in a while, your employer may be obligated to pay you for the time you spend waiting. Not every situation requires an employer to pay an on-call employee, but under certain circumstances on-call time is considered work time.

The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law, and it requires employers to pay employees for on-call time under certain circumstances. The law is enforced by the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. Employers can be required to pay you any unpaid wages for on-call time, and possibly a penalty as well, if they violate the law.

The key to knowing whether you should be compensated for on-call time is how much your freedom is affected. If you are required to stay on the employer’s premises or very close to your place of work while on call, then you are more likely to be considered working than if you simply have to have your cell phone handy in case your boss needs you. Another consideration is how often you are actually called while on call.

If you believe your employer has failed to pay you for your on-call time, we recommend sitting down with an experienced attorney who can help you figure out what to do next. Because these cases are so difficult and few and far between, there are not too many lawyers in Illinois that can demonstrate real experience and success with on call pay claims.

If there are many employees with a similar complaint against an employer, a class-action lawsuit may be recommended. In this situation, all of the employees sue together as a group. If there are not enough employees with a similar claim, you can take legal action on your own. If this is the case, your attorney can request that your employer pay your legal fees.

There are time limits for bringing these cases that impact whether or not you can recover and how far back you can collect. In other words, if you are thinking about bringing a case you should do it sooner rather than later.

We know attorneys across Illinois who represent employees and focus their practice on issues like on-call pay. If you need help finding the right attorney for your situation, or if you simply have a question about unpaid wages, please contact us. All calls and emails are free and confidential.