OAR 839-020-0042: Sleeping Time and Certain Other Activities

Under certain conditions an employee is considered to be working even though some of the employee's time is spent sleeping or in certain other activities: (1) Less than 24 hours duty: An employee who is required to be on duty for less than 24 hours is working even though the employee is permitted to sleep or engage in other activities when not busy. (2) Duty of 24 hours or more: Where an employee is required to be on duty for 24 hours or more, the employer and the employee may agree to exclude bona fide meal periods and a bona fide regularly scheduled sleeping period of not more than eight hours from hours worked, provided adequate sleeping facilities are furnished by the employer and the employee can usually enjoy an uninterrupted sleep period. If sleeping period is of more than eight hours, only eight hours will be credited. Where no expressed or implied agreement to the contrary is present, the eight hours of sleeping time and lunch periods constitute hours worked: (a) Interruptions of sleep. If the sleeping period is interrupted by a call to duty, the interruption must be counted as hours worked. If the period is interrupted to such an extent that the employee cannot get a reasonable sleep period, the entire period must be counted; (b) For purposes of this rule a reasonable night's sleep is considered sleep time of not less than five continuous hours. (3) Employees residing on employers' premises or working at home: An employee who resides on the employer's premises on a permanent basis or for extended periods of time is not considered as working all the time the employee is on the premises. Ordinarily, the employee may engage in normal private pursuits and thus have enough time for eating, sleeping, entertaining, and other periods of complete freedom from all duties when the employee may leave the premises for the employee's own purposes. To determine the exact hours worked, any reasonable agreement of the parties which takes into consideration all of the pertinent facts will be accepted. (4) Notwithstanding ORS 653.020 and sections (2) and (3) of this rule, an employer must provide a domestic worker who resides in the home of the employer with both at least eight consecutive hours of rest within each 24-hour period and a space with adequate conditions for uninterrupted sleep. For purposes of this section, if the period of rest is interrupted by a call to duty, any time worked during the rest period must be paid at one and one-half times the employee’s base rate regardless of the total number of hours worked in that work week.