Orientation is before my first shift: should I record the time?

Attendance facts matter

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Hours Worked Advisor explains that meetings and training require a factual assessment. Attendance is not voluntary where the employer requires it or the worker understands that non-attendance affects the job. Special training situations can differ. For FLSA-covered non-exempt work, calling a session “orientation” or scheduling it outside normal hours does not by itself answer whether time is compensable.

Keep the requirement and time together

Save the invitation, required modules, deadline and any instruction to attend or complete them at home. Record actual beginning, end and breaks, identifying the tasks performed. Separate optional independent study from a required company session. If training is already within a paid shift, note that rather than count the same hours twice. Ask how a new starter should report the time.

Check the payroll treatment

Ask which pay period includes the session, the rate used and whether its time is included in the workweek record. Keep a course fee separate from wages for attendance. An answer that the employer paid the course provider does not explain whether your work time was counted. State and local requirements may add rules beyond the federal starting point.

If the time is omitted

Give payroll the dates, duration and written attendance requirement and ask for the calculation or correction. Preserve your payslip and response. Seek WHD or state-specific advice if the dispute continues, identifying employment and exemption status accurately. This guide does not decide all pre-hire exercises, prescribe a premium rate or guarantee the consequence of refusing required training.

Hypothetical illustration: required orientation before the first shift

Suppose an employer sends a new hire an email stating that a two-hour orientation is mandatory and must be completed before the first shift, and that failure to attend will delay the start date. The new hire attends at the scheduled time. In this situation, the orientation is not voluntary because the employer required it and non-attendance affected the job. The new hire should record the actual start and end times and report them to payroll. If the employer later says the orientation was unpaid because it occurred before the first shift, the new hire can ask: “Since attendance was required and affected my start date, should this time be counted as hours worked under the FLSA?”

Next steps if unresolved

If payroll does not respond or the dispute continues, contact the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or a state labor agency, providing the saved documents and your own time records. Be ready to state your job duties and whether you are classified as exempt or non-exempt. This guide does not cover all situations, such as special apprenticeship programs or public-sector employment, which may have different rules.

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