MD Company Holds Mandatory Mtg During Lunch

[miles5454]

This is another question I am posting on behalf of my daughter.

Once a week she and the rest of the admin group are required to attend a meeting that is scheduled during their lunch hour. They are all hourly employees who do not get paid for their lunch breaks. The last meeting was simply to discuss party plans for someone. Can the company legally require them to attend a meeting during their unpaid lunch break without compensating them? They aren't paid for 40 hours as it is (a full time week equals 37.5 hours), so now instead of being paid 37.5 hours, they are being paid 36.5 hours.

Thank you for your assistance.

vjm

[ElleMD]

Was this a work related party they were planning and were they required to attend the meeting? If so, then they should be paid for that hour. If this was more informal to plan a social gathering even if somewhat work related, no it wouldn't have to be paid.

[miles5454]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. The weekly meetings are mandatory. It just so happened that during the last meeting all that was discussed was a celebratory party for someone who had gotten their associates degree.

The main question is, can the company legally require an hourly paid employee to give up his or her lunch hour for a meeting without compensating them since their lunch hour is unpaid time and the meeting requires them to spend their hour discussing "company" issues.

Many thanks.
vjm

[ElleMD]

They do not have to give them a lunch hour in MD but if they do and it is duty free, they don't need to pay them for that hour. If they are working (and the mandatory meetings would count) they must be paid for that hour.