CHAPTER 2: PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF WAGE AND HOUR RIGHTS
C. Compensable Time Results
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California’s $15 tipped minimum wage would mean that Brett is legally entitled to a higher base wage from the diner in all four variations. But these results are similar when focusing only on the 1,263 respondents who work in one of the sixteen states where the $2.13 federal minimum wage is still binding, as only 17.9% of these respondents responded that Brett is not entitled to a higher base wage.
Workers who currently earn tips had both the highest rate of correct responses for the first three variations, and, surprisingly, the lowest rate of correct responses for the last variation where Brett is not entitled to a higher wage. This means that regardless of variation, tipped workers were most likely to answer “yes” as to whether the tipped worker was legally entitled to a higher base wage. This perhaps is explained by fairness considerations, with respondents answering what they think the law should be. This would cut against the explanation of better performing respondents having more education or more relevant employment experience.
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Table 17: Justin’s Compensable Time by Work Activity
[A]: Because Justin is responsible for packaging hazardous chemicals, Big Box Warehouse requires Justin to wear safety gear, including a protective suit, gloves, and goggles. Big Box Warehouse requires the safety gear to remain on the premises. Every day, Justin spends 15 minutes putting on the safety gear before work and another 15 minutes taking it off after work.
[B]: For safety and theft reasons, Big Box Warehouse requires workers to pass through a security checkpoint before and after they leave work. At the checkpoint, workers pass through a metal detector while security guards check their bags. Every day, Justin spends 15 minutes waiting in line to pass through the checkpoint before work and another 15 minutes waiting in line after work.
Is Justin legally entitled to earn his $15 hourly wage for the 30 minutes he spends [A: putting on and taking off safety gear before and after his work / B: waiting in line before and after his work]?
• Yes
• No
Respondent characteristics
Percent who said Justin’s daily 30 minutes are compensable, by activity
Difference 30 Minutes Donning
& Doffing
30 Minutes Waiting for Security
All respondents 84.9 80.8 4.1**
No college degree 81.9 76.0 5.9
Does not receive overtime 79.0 75.6 3.4
Hourly worker 89.6 83.3 6.3
Earns <$30,000 per year 85.0 77.5 7.5*
Never worked as an independent
contractor 81.3 68.8 12.5***
Notes: The last column reports the statistical significance of the difference between respondents who saw the waiting for security variation and respondents who saw the donning and doffing variation. Statistically significant differences at 1% level (***), 5% level (**), 10% level (*).
The two key takeaways from Table 17 are that a high rate of respondents in each
variation found the activities—waiting for security and donning and doffing—compensable, and there was little difference between the variations. The 4.1 percentage point difference between donning and doffing and waiting for security is statistically significant at the 5% level, though both levels are large in magnitude, especially considering most federal cases find this time not compensable. Respondents who have only ever worked as employees had the biggest spread, perhaps because these workers had the best information about the non-compensability of waiting for security.
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Results of Compensable Time Question 2: Justin’s Lunch Break
Table 18: Justin’s Compensable Time by Lunch Break
Justin gets a one-hour lunch break every day. Most days, Justin eats with coworkers outside. On Wednesdays, it is Justin’s turn to answer the phone in the front office during the lunch break. Typically, each Wednesday, Justin answers [A: only one phone call, lasting 5 minutes / B: four to five phone calls, which usually takes 40 minutes]. During the rest of his Wednesday lunch hour, Justin eats and watches T.V.
Is Justin legally entitled to earn his $15 hourly wage during his lunch break?
#1. Yes, every day of the week
#2. Yes, for the full hour he sits by the phone on Wednesdays
#3. Yes, only for the time on Wednesdays when he answers phone calls
#4. No
Respondent characteristics
Percent of responses Incorrectly
answered #1 – Yes, Every day
Correctly answered
#2 – Full Hour
Incorrectly answered #3 – Only during calls
Incorrectly answered #4 –
No
All respondents 29.3 26.5 34.0 10.2
No college degree 23.0 36.6 24.6 15.9
Does not receive overtime 25.9 33.3 30.9 10.0
Hourly worker 29.9 27.7 29.3 13.2
Earns <$30,000 per year 25.3 23.6 38.5 12.6
Never worked as an
independent contractor 26.9 23.8 34.4 14.9
Table 18 reports perceptions on the compensability of time spent working during lunch.
While “bona fide” lunch breaks are non-compensable, for a lunch break to be “bona fide” the employee must be completely relieved of duties. Because Justin is on call during both the 5- minute variation and the 40-minute variation, he does not have a bona fide lunch break on Wednesdays. For both variations, the correct answer is #2, that Justin is entitled to earn his $15 hourly wage for the full hour he sits by the phone on Wednesdays. Response rates did not vary significantly between the 5-minute variation or the 40-minute variation, so pooled response rates are provided in Table 18.
Table 18 shows that most respondents do not accurately understand the compensability of on call time during lunch hours. Across all respondents, just 26.5% of respondents correctly answered this question. More respondents believed that Justin should be paid every day, even those when is completely relieved from his duties. Hourly workers, who may have more
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experience with the compensability of their lunch hours, did not fare much better. The best performing respondents were those without a college education, though even 15.9% of these respondents thought Justin could never be paid for his Wednesday lunch hour.