When new employees join a company, they often go through training or onboarding activities like orientation sessions, paperwork completion, and job-specific instruction. These tasks raise a crucial question: are employers required to compensate employees for this time? The answer largely depends on the nature of the activities and their connection to the employee’s role.
Determining when a candidate transitions from being an applicant to an employee is essential for understanding whether activities like onboarding, orientation, or training are compensable. This distinction is particularly relevant in industries like unionized construction, where the referral process involves dispatch systems and pre-employment.