Shift Workers May Be Affected by March 10 Daylight Savings Time Change

Daylight savings time begins at 2:00 a.m. on March 10, when clocks are set ahead by one hour across most of the country, ending standard time until November 3. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), employees working the overnight shift when daylight savings time begins work one hour less because the clocks are set ahead one hour [DOL website, eLaws FLSA Hours Worked Advisor].

For example, an employee’s scheduled shift starts at 11:00 p.m. and ends at 7:30 a.m. the next day. The employee works an eight-hour shift and receives a 30-minute lunch break. On the Sunday that daylight savings time starts at 2:00 a.m., the employee does not work the hour from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., because at 2:00 a.m. all of the clocks are turned forward to 3:00 a.m. Thus, on this day the employee only worked seven hours, even though the schedule was for eight hours.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees must be credited with all of the hours actually worked. Therefore, if the employee is in a work situation similar to that described in the above example, he or she worked seven hours on the day that daylight savings time begins. However, the FLSA does not require employers to pay one hour less to those who work that specific eight-hour, overnight shift. See Payroll Guide ¶18,383.

But, employers who pay workers for eight hours rather than seven are not required to include the additional hour’s pay when they calculate the employee’s regular pay rate for overtime purposes. The extra hour’s pay also cannot be credited toward overtime, since it is not compensation for time worked.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam.