ES.C.2 Hours Worked Page 2 of 13 7/19/2021
If all three elements are satisfied then the time is considered hours worked under state law.
Under certain circumstances, it may be difficult to determine if all factors apply. The remaining
sections of this policy illustrate the application of these factors in a variety of situations.
2. When is time “hours worked” and what are an employer’s responsibilities to
compensate its employees for “hours worked”?
Employers must pay employees for all “hours worked.” “Hours worked” means all work requested,
suffered, permitted, or allowed while on duty on the employer’s premises or at a prescribed
workplace, and includes travel time, training and meeting time, wait time, on-call time, preparatory
and concluding time, and may include meal periods. “Hours worked” includes all time worked
regardless of whether it is a full hour or less. “Hours worked” includes, for example, a situation
where an employee may voluntarily continue to work at the end of the shift. The employee may
desire to finish an assigned task or may wish to correct errors, prepare time reports or other
records. The reason or pay basis is immaterial. If the employer knows or has reason to believe
that the employee is continuing to work, such time is compensable working time.
An employer may not avoid or negate payment of regular or overtime wages by issuing a rule or
policy that such time will not be paid or must be approved in advance. However, an employer
may have a policy requiring prior approval and may discipline an employee for working overtime
without prior approval so long as the discipline does not include not paying the worker for the
overtime performed. If the work is performed, it must be paid. It is the employer’s responsibility to
ensure that employees do not perform work that the employer does not want performed.
When time is “hours worked,” the employer must comply with the applicable compensation
required by state and local wage laws for that time. The Minimum Wage Act requires employers
to pay employees at least the minimum wage for all hours worked. RCW 49.46.020. Employers
may also be responsible for a higher hourly wage rate provided by agreement or under a local
ordinance and must pay overtime rates to eligible employees for any “hours worked” in excess of
40 hours in a workweek. RCW 49.52.050; RCW 49.46.130. In addition to wages, all covered
employees must accrue paid sick leave on all hours worked at a rate of at least one hour of paid
sick leave for every forty hours worked. RCW 49.46.020(4); RCW 49.46.210(1)(a); WAC 296-
128-620(1). For information about how non-agricultural commission or piece-rate workers are
treated under the law, see Administrative Policy ES.A.3, “Minimum Hourly Wage.” For information
about how agricultural commission or piece-rate workers are treated under the law, see
Administrative Policy ES.C.6.2, “Agricultural Labor Standards.”
3. What is travel time and when is it considered “hours worked”?
Travel time is time spent by an employee travelling for a work-related purpose. Whether time
spent travelling for work constitutes paid work time depends on whether the travel time is
considered “hours worked.” If the travel or commute time is considered “hours worked” under
RCW 49.46.020 and WAC 296-126-002(8), then it is compensable and the employee must be
paid for this time. These statutory and regulatory requirements cannot be waived through a
collective bargaining agreement or other agreement.
The same general definition of hours worked described in Section 1 above applies to travel
time. See WAC 296-126-002(8) (“Hours worked” means all hours when an employee is
authorized or required by the employer to be on duty on the employer’s premises or at a
prescribed workplace). This means that when evaluating whether travel time is compensable,
each element of the “hours worked” definition must be evaluated.