The transportation company I work for is having an employee meeting which the owner says is not mandatory and I would like to know if this is compensable time. The meeting time is at 6pm, which is after normal office hours, driver training and safety will be discussed, and quarterly bonuses will be handed out. Our employee manual states that meetings are not mandatory but when bonus time comes around, attendance at these meetings will be taken into consideration. The majority of the people who will be attending this meeting are paid by the number of miles they drive, not by the hour. Federal rules on meetings is pretty clear cut and under those rules, it would seem that this meeting would be compensable, but I can't find anything regarding Oklahoma labor law.

First question; are you exempt or non-exempt?

First question; are you exempt or non-exempt?

The drivers are exempt, some of the office personnel are not.

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing you may have that backwards.

The exempt employees, whomever they turn out to be, do not have to be paid anything over and above their regular salaries no matter what the circumstances, ever.

I'll let Patty address the non-exempt employees.

Federal rules on meetings is pretty clear cut and under those rules, it would seem that this meeting would be compensable

Why?

The meeting is voluntary and not during normal work hours. There are two other qualifiers, as I recall and one is that the training be related to your job (a poorly defined qualifier and one that I don't care for). I forget what the fourth one was, but you can remind me.

Why?

The meeting is voluntary and not during normal work hours. There are two other qualifiers, as I recall and one is that the training be related to your job (a poorly defined qualifier and one that I don't care for). I forget what the fourth one was, but you can remind me.

The employee does not perform any productive work during such
attendance.

I got that from a link provided by Patty in another post. The four qualifiers are as follows:

(a) Attendance is outside of the employee's regular working hours;
(b) Attendance is in fact voluntary;
(c) The course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the
employee's job; and
(d) The employee does not perform any productive work during such
attendance.

The meeting is all about safety, which is the most important thing for these drivers. Any new DOT rulings are discussed, any accidents with the vehicles is discussed, and new and established safety guidelines are gone over.

I think the answer to my question though is that these drivers are exempt, therefore not paid for any type of meeting, voluntary or mandatory. I'm sure Patty or CBG can answer this.

There are no circumstances whatsoever in which an exempt employee is entitled to any pay beyond their regular salary. Not meetings, not extra hours, nothing.

ONLY if the exempt employee has a bona fide contract that guarantees extra pay for these meetings would they be entitled to be paid for it.