Daylight-saving time often creates confusion on how to pay employees that work the overnight period when daylight time begins or ends. The old tip for “Spring Forward, lose an hour on the overnight shift” or “Fall Back, add an hour to the overnight shift” is often helpful.
Most states participate in daylight-savings time. Those employees working the overnight shift when daylight-Saving time begins each spring work one hour less because the clocks are set ahead one hour. Those employees working the graveyard shift when daylight-saving time ends in the fall work an extra hour because the clocks are set back one hour at 2 a.m.
For example:
A scheduled shift starts at 11 p.m. and ends at 7:30 a.m. the next day; your employee works an eight- hour shift and receives a 30-minute lunch break.
- On the Sunday that daylight-saving time ends (Nov. 3, 2013) at 2 a.m., the employee works the hour from 1-2 a.m. twice because at 2 a.m. all of the clocks are turned back one hour to 1a.m. Thus, on this day the employee worked 9 hours, even though the schedule only reflected 8 hours.
- On the Sunday that Daylight Savings Time starts at 2 a.m., the employee does not work the hour from 2-3 a.m. because at 2 a.m. all of the clocks are turned forward to 3 a.m. Thus on this day, the employee only worked 7 hours, even though the schedule was for 8 hours.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employees be credited with all of the hours actually worked. Therefore, if the employee is in a work situation similar to that described above, he or she worked (nine) 9 hours on the day that daylight-saving time ends and seven (7) hours on the day that daylight-saving time begins. This assumes, of course, that the employee actually worked the scheduled shift as in our example.
One interesting side note to daylight-saving time: A study by Michigan State University industrial and organizational psychology doctoral candidates Christopher Barnes and David Wagner, reported by various sources, says that workplace accidents spike 5.7 percent on the Monday after we set our clocks forward 1 hour in the spring compared with other Mondays throughout the year. They also reported that a University of British Columbia study found an 8 percent increase in accidents on the changeover day.
The reason? It’s lack of sleep. Although the researchers say that workers actually lose only 40 minutes of sleep on that night, even that small amount of time is significant, Barnes explained.
Barnes said that studies have shown that lost sleep causes attention levels to drop off, and that the impact could be greatest in jobs requiring a high level of attention to detail. So while reportable physical accidents increase, Barnes maintains that it is not unreasonable to think that non-reportable workplace mistakes , such as transposing figures, probably rise as well.
No such spike occurs in the fall when clocks are set back! That’s because workers are getting extra time to sleep.
The study used data from the “American Time Use Survey” conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and from the U.S. Dept. of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration. The study was sponsored by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, whose members study and apply scientific principles to workplace issues.
The researchers also reported that their findings show that not only do the number of accidents increase, but their severity as well.
So if the studies prove to be true, businesses should see a benefit the week of Nov. 3, 2013 with employees experiencing increased work performance because of an extra hour of sleep!
Can we help you with questions about matters of employee pay and other benefits? Contact BCN Services at 1-800-891-9911 or email [email protected].
Jeff Walsh, Partnership Manager