On-Call Pay for NJ Healthcare and IT Workers: When Waiting Counts as Working

Many workers remain on call even after their scheduled shift ends. Doctors, nurses, IT professionals, and other employees may need to respond to emergencies, patient concerns, or system outages outside normal working hours. Whether that waiting time is compensable depends largely on the restrictions placed on the employee. 

On-call availability counts as compensable work when an employer's restrictions significantly limit the employee's ability to use that time for personal purposes. 

Workers in many industries are expected to stay available after hours, even when they are not actively working. Our attorneys at Brandon J. Broderick often review disputes involving employees who must carry phones or respond within minutes if called. 

This article explains how on-call pay is evaluated, when waiting time qualifies as compensable work, what factors courts and regulators consider, and when to consult a wage and hour lawyer in New Jersey. 

How Federal Law Shapes On-Call Pay in New Jersey

The Fair Labor Standards Act defines employment broadly. To "employ" means "to suffer or permit to work" under 29 U.S.C. § 203(g). This definition includes some of the time a worker spends waiting, not only the hours spent on an active task. A worker idle between assignments is still owed wages when the idle time belongs to the employer rather than to the worker.

The rule that decides these cases comes from a 1944 Supreme Court decision, Skidmore v. Swift & Co. A worker who is "engaged to wait" is working and has to be paid. A worker who is "waiting to be engaged" is off the clock. 

A companion case from the same year, Armour & Co. v. Wantock, also addresses the issue. Readiness to serve is something an employer hires and pays for, the same as active labor. Both decisions came out of disputes over firefighters and plant workers who spent long stretches waiting for something to happen. The concept remains central to modern on-call compensation disputes. Volunteer firefighters are more commonly protected through employment leave laws rather than on-call pay requirements. 

The Department of Labor built the distinction into its regulations and its Fact Sheet #22. 

The clearest marker is location. A worker required to stay on the employer's premises while on call is working the whole time, even during the quiet stretches. A worker who is allowed to stay home and keep a phone nearby isn’t on the clock. Most of the disputes we review involve situations that fall somewhere in between. The analysis comes down to how much the employer's requirements limit the employee's personal time. 

The classification matters. Hours treated as work affect: 

• The 40-hour mark that triggers overtime at one and one-half the regular rate
• The minimum-wage calculation for the week

Time spent genuinely free doesn’t count toward either. Time spent restricted enough to qualify as "engaged to wait" counts toward both. 

The outcome depends on the arrangement's details rather than on the label the employer uses. The same job title and pay rate can lead to different outcomes depending on how the shift is structured. A wage and hour attorney in New Jersey can help evaluate when those restrictions are significant enough to require compensation. 

When Waiting Time Counts as Compensable Work in New Jersey

Courts look at the overall circumstances rather than relying on any single factor. No one requirement or restriction automatically determines the outcome. Judges examine:

• How far the worker has to stay from the worksite
• How quickly the worker has to respond once a call comes in
• How often calls arrive during an on-call period
• When the worker is free to trade or swap on-call shifts
• Whether the worker can handle ordinary personal activities while on call

In Renfro v. City of Emporia, decided by the Tenth Circuit in 1991, firefighters had to respond within 20 minutes and were called back three to five times during a shift. The court ruled that the time counted as work. The employees were called in frequently and had a narrow window to respond, so they had little freedom to use the time for themselves. 

The Fifth Circuit reached a different result in Bright v. Houston Northwest Medical Center. A hospital equipment technician had a 20-minute response requirement and spent much of his time on call. He was still able to go about his normal activities. Because the restrictions did not substantially limit his personal life, the court found that the waiting time was not compensable. 

The difference was in how often employees were called and how much their personal time was disrupted. We see employers treat availability as if it costs nothing, expecting workers to remain reachable throughout evenings, weekends, and other off-hours. 

Only 35% of employees say their workplace encourages taking breaks. Roughly 40% believe their time off is respected. 

Repeated after-hours emails and constant interruptions make an arrangement look much more like work than a response requirement that is rarely used.  

Courts also consider how predictable the calls are. An employee who expects a quiet evening generally has more control over personal time than someone who never knows when the next call will come. The same principles apply in both healthcare and IT settings, although the facts vary from job to job. In both industries, employers can require pre-approval for overtime, but that policy does not eliminate the obligation to pay. 

Why On-Call Compensation Rules Apply to Healthcare and IT Workers in New Jersey

On-call coverage is a routine part of healthcare operations, with nurses and other staff regularly rotating through on-call schedules. The outcome of the claim depends on the restrictions placed on the employee. 

For example, a nurse required to stay within ten minutes of a unit and report to work within that timeframe has a much stronger argument. The situation is different for a nurse who is free to remain at home and only needs to answer occasional calls or provide advice remotely.

Healthcare workers in New Jersey receive additional protections through limits on mandatory overtime. The law restricts when certain hourly healthcare employees can be required to work beyond their scheduled shifts, with exceptions for emergencies and declared disasters. Those rules affect staffing decisions and scheduling practices.

IT work falls under the same rules. A systems administrator or IT support specialist who must keep a laptop nearby and respond to repeated alerts within minutes may face restrictions similar to those of someone required to remain close to a physical workplace. In healthcare IT, on-call compensation often depends on the extent of those restrictions rather than the employee's location.

IT workers face an additional challenge because overtime and on-call pay protections apply only to nonexempt employees. The federal computer employee exemption covers programmers and software engineers who satisfy a duties test and earn at least $684 per week or $27.63 per hour. Many help desk and network support employees don’t qualify and remain entitled to extra pay. Job titles such as "engineer" or "analyst" do not determine status. Classification depends on the employee's duties and compensation. Common problems include:

• Misclassifying support and help desk staff as exempt to avoid paying overtime
• Treating heavily restricted remote on-call time as unpaid because the work happens from home

Both arrangements can result in non-exempt employees missing compensation for hours that legally count as work. When our team at Brandon J. Broderick builds a case involving unpaid wages, missing hours are only found after a full review of the employee's schedule. 

Understanding On-Call Pay Under New Jersey Law

New Jersey requires extra pay at one and one-half the regular rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a week. The state uses the same engaged-to-wait analysis as the federal rule. Hours that qualify as work count toward the threshold and are paid at the increased rate once a worker passes it. 

The state goes further than federal law in two ways:

• The lookback period for unpaid-wage claims is six years in New Jersey, compared with two years under federal law, or three years for a willful violation. A New Jersey worker reaches back further to recover unpaid hours.
• Under the state's wage-theft amendments, an employer that owes back wages is liable for liquidated damages of up to 200% of the unpaid amount, on top of the wages themselves.

New Jersey's 2026 minimum-wage rates provide the starting point for these calculations. Most employees must be paid at least $15.92 per hour, while direct-care staff at long-term care facilities must receive at least $18.92 per hour. On-call time that qualifies as work must be paid at those rates. While a single unpaid on-call shift may seem minor, the amounts can grow significantly when the same practice continues.

Enforcement is handled by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, and workers may also bring claims in court. Determining what is owed depends on factors such as which hours qualify as work, if overtime applies, and the pay period covered by the claim.

On-call pay cases depend on the specific restrictions placed on the employee. Response times, location requirements, and the frequency of call-ins can all affect the claim.

If you have questions about unpaid on-call time, contact us today for a free consultation.