My manager told me to clock out and then finish my side work. Is that allowed?
The short answer
Example
Say you’re told to clock out at close and then roll silverware and restock for 25 minutes, five nights a week (illustrative).
| Hours on the time clock | Hours actually worked | |
|---|---|---|
| Five shifts | 38 | 38 |
| Side work after clocking out (25 min Ă— 5) | 0 | 2 hours 5 minutes |
| Total for the week | 38 | 40 hours 5 minutes |
- All of it is hours worked. DOL counts the minutes after you clock out the same as the minutes before.
- It changes the minimum-wage check. Your cash wage plus tips has to cover $7.25 for every hour you actually worked, not just the hours on the clock.
- It can push you into overtime. Here the real total is over 40, so the extra minutes are overtime hours. See How is overtime calculated when I make $2.13 an hour?
Not tax or legal advice. The times are made up. Write down your real clock-out time and when you actually left.
Plain English
“Suffered or permitted” work is paid work
Federal law defines “employ” to include “to suffer or permit to work.” DOL’s hours-worked fact sheet says work that wasn’t requested but was suffered or permitted is work time that the employer has to pay for. Its example is someone who keeps working after the end of a shift to finish a task or fix mistakes. DOL says the reason is immaterial.
The federal regulation says that when the employer knows or has reason to believe you’re still working, the time is working time. The same goes for work done away from the job site, even at home.
A “no off-the-clock work” rule isn’t enough
The regulation puts the duty on management: if it doesn’t want the work done, it has to make sure the work isn’t done. It says management “cannot sit back and accept the benefits without compensating for them,” and that just having a rule against the work isn’t enough.
Small amounts of time still count
Federal rules let an employer ignore tiny, uncertain bits of time, a few seconds or minutes, that can’t practically be recorded. But the same regulation says an employer can’t skip any part of time you’re regularly required to spend on assigned duties, however small. It cites a court decision holding that 10 minutes a day isn’t too small to count.
Your state may have stricter rules
This page covers federal law only. DOL keeps a list of state labor offices.
Where to ask
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division takes calls at 1-866-487-9243. DOL says complaints are confidential and that an employer can’t retaliate against a worker for filing one. See How to file a complaint and Is my manager allowed to do that?
Common mistakes
- Treating the clock-out time as the end of your workday when you kept working.
- Assuming it’s fine because it’s “only 15 minutes.” Regular required duties count, however short.
- Not writing down when you actually left, so there’s nothing to compare with your pay stub.
- Forgetting that the extra minutes can put you over 40 hours for the week.
Official sources
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the FLSAdol.gov
- 29 CFR 785.11–785.13, work suffered or permitted; duty of managementecfr.gov
- 29 CFR 785.47, insubstantial or insignificant periods of timeecfr.gov
- U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #77A: Prohibiting Retaliation Under the FLSA (minimum wage for all hours worked)dol.gov
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: How to File a Complaintdol.gov
Last verified:
Checked DOL Fact Sheet #22 (revised July 2008), 29 CFR 785.11–785.13 and 785.47 on eCFR (current through September 21, 2026), DOL Fact Sheet #77A, and DOL’s complaint page.