Engaged to wait

Definition

The federal test for whether a gap between lessons is paid time for the teacher.

Why It Matters

The make-up policy opens by saying a missed lesson is a paid hour a teacher still has to be paid for, and this is the rule that decides when that is true. Waiting time counts as work unless the employee is completely relieved from duty, and the federal rule says that means being told in advance they may leave and need not start again until a stated hour. Short gaps in a schedule are the case it names. So a teacher holding a block from four to eight with a no-show at five is on the clock through it. Two things follow for a buyer. A generous make-up policy can pay for one lesson twice, once as the waited gap and once as the rescheduled slot. And a school paying an hourly rate for lessons taught has been under-recording hours, which is a wage liability the payroll register hides because it shows lessons instead of hours.