Show - Up Pay

    It’s a Monday morning, you’re driving to work which normally takes an hour to get to, when you arrive to work you’ve noticed there is no work for you. What happens now? You think to yourself, “Do I get show-up pay?” Unfortunately, the answer is no. There is no requirement for “show-up” pay if an employee shows up to a business and there is no work to be done. Businesses are not required to pay for an employee’s arrival without the employee working. A worker will be paid for actual hours worked by the employer. “Hours worked,” means all hours during which the employee is authorized or required, known or reasonably believed by the employer to be on duty on the employer's premises or at a prescribed work place (WAC 296-126-002(8).

If an employee is on the premises of a business those are considered “hours worked”. Workers will be paid for the time which they are required to be on the premises at the employer’s request. Commonly businesses cannot force workers to wait at job site without pay.

 There are three reasons for the definition of “hours worked”:

1. An employee is needed by the employer
2. On the employers prescribed work site
3. To be actively working