When does the compensable workday begin and end for remote employees? The answer is evolving.

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

Frank B. Shuster is a partner at law firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, focusing on traditional labor law, employment litigation and appellate work.

According to recent studies, more than one-third of all employees in the U.S. work remotely one or more days a week. Many do so by using computers and working with employer-provided software and applications.

This phenomenon requires employers to develop rules for determining and documenting when a remote employee’s workday begins and ends.

For example, an employer could adopt a rule that compensable time begins when the employee turns their computer on at the start of their shift and ends when they log off at the end of their shift, with 30 minutes for an unpaid meal break.