Daylight Saving Time (DST) ending in the fall presents a unique challenge for payroll, particularly for employees working an overnight shift that spans the time change. When clocks “fall back” from 2:00 AM to 1:00 AM, a scheduled eight-hour shift can suddenly become a nine-hour period of work, creating confusion over compensation. Clarifying the federal requirements for compensating this extra hour is necessary to ensure compliance and fair treatment for affected shift workers.
Payment Rules for the Extra Hour Worked
Federal law requires compensation for all time an employee is actually working, meaning the answer to whether an employee is paid for the extra hour is yes. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) mandates that non-exempt employees must be paid for every hour worked. Employees on duty when the clock is set back from 2:00 AM to 1:00 AM must work the hour between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM twice.
A worker scheduled for an eight-hour shift, such as 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM, will have performed nine hours of work due to the time change. This employee must be paid for the full nine hours, even though the elapsed time shown on a clock is only eight hours. Paying only for the scheduled eight hours violates wage and hour laws.
Overtime Calculations During Fall Back
The extra hour worked during the “fall back” shift is treated like any other hour when calculating a worker’s total weekly hours. This ninth hour must be included to determine if the employee has exceeded the 40-hour threshold for the workweek.
For a full-time employee who works 40 hours per week, the addition of this extra hour results in a 41-hour workweek. In this scenario, the ninth hour of the DST shift must be compensated at the overtime rate, which is one and a half times the employee’s regular rate of pay. The total compensation for that workweek must reflect 40 hours at the regular rate and one hour at the time-and-a-half rate.
What Happens During Spring Forward
The opposite time change, “spring forward,” presents a different payroll situation because an hour is lost. When clocks move from 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM, an employee on an eight-hour overnight shift only works seven hours of actual time.
Since federal law requires pay only for hours actually worked, the employer is legally obligated to pay the employee for just the seven hours completed. Employers are not required to compensate the employee for the skipped hour, unless a contract or company policy guarantees eight hours of pay regardless of the time change. If an employer voluntarily pays for the full eight hours, that extra hour of non-worked pay is not factored into the employee’s regular rate for future overtime calculations. This voluntary payment does not count as hours worked toward the 40-hour weekly overtime threshold.
Exempt Employees and Fixed Pay
The time change does not impact the weekly compensation of employees classified as exempt under the FLSA. Exempt employees, such as salaried professionals or executives, receive a fixed salary not tied to the number of hours they work. Their pay is based on the performance of job duties rather than an hourly wage.
Because of this fixed compensation structure, the additional hour worked during the “fall back” shift does not increase their weekly salary. Likewise, the hour lost during the “spring forward” change does not result in a reduction of their salary. The compensation rules for DST changes apply primarily to hourly, non-exempt workers.
Employer Responsibilities for Compliance
Employers must ensure their timekeeping systems accurately capture all hours worked during the DST transition. Automated payroll systems must be checked to confirm they record the full nine hours of the “fall back” shift, rather than defaulting to an eight-hour scheduled shift. Manual adjustment of time cards is often necessary to prevent underpayment when the system fails to account for the extra hour.
It is a violation of the law to compensate the extra hour with paid time off, such as compensatory time, instead of monetary wages. Communication with affected employees is necessary to explain the payroll treatment of the time change and avoid disputes. Adherence to the law’s mandate to pay for all hours worked is required during the DST shift.