I work for a company in Louisiana. My employer requires a 30 minute mandatory meeting before shift (8 hours) as well as a 30 minute mandatory meeting after shift. Now we are (clocked in) according to the timeclock but
we are not getting paid for the hour a shift mandatory meeting. Is this practice legal? :confused:

Are you exempt or non-exempt?

And, if you are nonexempt, here is the federal regulation regarding meetings. Unless all four of the conditions here exist, the meeting time is compensable and must also be taken into consideration when determining whether you have worked over 40 hours in the workweek and are due overtime pay.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_785/29CFR785.27.htm