Working From Home

An employer must compensate an employee who performs work at home if the employer knows or has a reason to know the employee performs the work.

If the employee takes unassigned work home, the inquiry turns on whether the employer knew or should have known that work was being performed by the employee. The employer has the duty to exercise control over the employee to make sure that work is not performed off site if the employer does not want the work to be performed off site. However, the employer is not permitted to accept the benefits of the employee's work without properly compensating the employee.

Mere rules against working off site or working overtime is not enough to relieve the employer from its obligation to compensate employees for working at home.