Do I get paid if my manager makes me come in early for lineup or stay after close?
The short answer
What to check
Here’s how the federal hours-worked rules sort common before-and-after-shift time (illustrative situations).
| Situation | Hours worked under federal rules? |
|---|---|
| Required 15-minute lineup before doors open | Yes. Attendance isn’t voluntary if your employer requires it. |
| Menu or wine tasting you’re told to attend | Yes. It’s job related, and required. |
| Setting up your section before you clock in | Yes, if it’s an integral part of your job. Federal rules treat prep work that’s integral to your main work as compensable. |
| Staying after close to finish side work | Yes. DOL says the workday can be longer than your scheduled shift. |
| Told to come in early and wait at the bar until you’re put on | Depends. DOL separates being “engaged to wait” (work) from “waiting to be engaged” (not work). |
| A class you chose on your own, off hours, unrelated to your job, doing no work | Can be unpaid, if all four conditions are met. |
Every “yes” row also counts toward the 40-hour overtime line and the $7.25 minimum for the week.
Not tax or legal advice. The situations are made up. How the rule applies depends on the facts.
Plain English
Meetings and training: the four conditions
Federal rules say time at lectures, meetings, and training programs doesn’t have to count as work time only if all four of these are true: it’s outside your regular working hours, it’s voluntary, it isn’t directly related to your job, and you don’t do any productive work during it.
The regulation says attendance isn’t voluntary if your employer requires it. It also isn’t voluntary if you’re led to believe your working conditions or your job would suffer if you didn’t show up.
Your workday can be longer than your shift
DOL’s hours-worked fact sheet says your workday generally runs from when you start your “principal activity” to when you stop. It says the workday may be longer than your scheduled shift. Work you keep doing after the shift ends, to finish a task, is work time DOL says has to be paid.
Federal rules treat preparation that’s an integral part of the job as part of the job. The regulation’s examples come from factories, like a worker required to report 30 minutes early to get machines ready, but the principle is the same.
Waiting around
DOL says whether waiting counts depends on the circumstances. If you’re “engaged to wait,” it’s work time. If you’re “waiting to be engaged,” it isn’t. An employee required to stay on call on the employer’s premises is working.
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. See also Can my manager make me work off the clock?
Common mistakes
- Treating a “mandatory” lineup as unpaid because it happens before you clock in.
- Calling a required training “voluntary” because nobody said you’d be written up.
- Forgetting that closing side work after your scheduled end time is still work.
- Not writing down when you actually got there and when you left.
Official sources
Last verified:
Checked DOL Fact Sheet #22 (revised July 2008) and 29 CFR 785.24, 785.27, and 785.28 on eCFR (current through September 21, 2026).
Still open: Whether a particular setup task or waiting period counts depends on the facts; the federal rules decide it case by case.