Work performed before clocking in, after clocking out or through an unpaid break is compensable if the employer knew or should have known it was happening — permission is not required, and a rule against it is not a defense if the work was accepted. Fifteen unpaid minutes a day across a normal working year is around 62 hours, which is why small routine amounts produce large claims.
The arithmetic
Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year is roughly 62 hours — more than a week and a half of unpaid work. At overtime rates on top of a full schedule it is considerably more than that in money.
Where it comes from
Starting up systems before the clock. Required protective gear. Pre-shift handovers and briefings. Closing down and locking up. Working through an automatically deducted meal break. Answering messages in the evening and at weekends.
Each feels too small to raise, which is precisely the mechanism.
The knowledge test
The standard is whether the employer knew or should have known. A supervisor who sees you there before the shift knows. A manager sending messages at 9pm and receiving replies knows. A policy prohibiting off-clock work does not help an employer who accepted the benefit of it — the duty is to prevent the work, not to publish a rule against it.
Remote and hybrid work
This has become far more common with no clock to punch. Non-exempt remote staff answering messages outside recorded hours are working, and the absence of a timekeeping system does not make the hours disappear — it makes them the employer’s record-keeping failure.
What to record
Date, start, end, what you were doing. Keep it somewhere personal rather than on a company system. Where an employer has not kept proper records, a reasonable estimate by the employee can carry the case, and contemporaneous notes are the strongest form of that.
Raising it
In writing, factually, with the pattern rather than a single day. Most of these are resolved internally once they are documented, and the two-year federal limitation period is running from the first affected week.
Common questions
Does off-the-clock work have to be paid?
Yes, if the employer knew or should have known it was happening. Permission is not required for the hours to count.
What if there is a policy against it?
A rule is not a defense where the employer accepted the benefit of the work. The duty is to prevent it, not to publish a policy.
How much is fifteen minutes a day worth?
Around 62 hours over a working year — more than a week and a half, and more in money at overtime rates.
Do evening messages count?
For non-exempt staff, yes, where the employer knows it is happening. Remote work has made this far more common.
What if nobody recorded the hours?
That is the employer's record-keeping failure. A reasonable estimate by the employee can carry the case, and contemporaneous notes are strongest.