Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog
A recent U.S. Department of Labor investigation in Georgia provides a useful reminder that employers generally cannot require employees to attend job-related meetings, orientation, or training and then leave that time off the payroll.
On August 10, 2026, the Department of Labor announced that it had recovered $113,199 in back wages following an investigation of Premier Health Consultants LLC, which operated as St. Joseph Candler Urgent Care in Richmond Hill, Georgia. See USDOL, News Release, “US Department of Labor finds urgent care employer failed to pay over $113K in owed wages to workers for required orientation, meetings, training”, https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20260810 (August 10, 2026). According to the Department’s Wage and Hour Division, the employer failed to properly compensate employees for required orientation, meetings, training, and other work performed off the clock. The Department also found that the employer suspended an employee who questioned the company’s pay practices.
The investigation highlights two separate—but related—Fair Labor Standards Act risks: failing to capture all compensable working time and retaliating against employees who raise wage concerns.
When Is Training Time Compensable?
Under Department of Labor regulations, attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs, and similar activities can be excluded from working time only when all four of the following conditions are met: the activity occurs outside the employee’s regular working hours; attendance is genuinely voluntary; the activity is not directly related to the employee’s job; and the employee performs no productive work while attending. 29 C.F.R. § 785.27.
That makes mandatory, job-related training particularly important. Department of Labor guidance directed specifically to the healthcare industry gives a straightforward example: when a residential care facility requires employees to attend specialized patient-care training, the training is compensable because it is both required and related to their jobs. The same principle applies well beyond healthcare.
According to the Department, the Richmond Hill employer paid straight time rather than the required overtime premium when mandatory orientation, meetings, and training pushed employees beyond 40 hours in a workweek. Investigators also found that some employees were required to perform additional work off the clock.
The lesson is important: employers must account for all hours worked when determining whether a nonexempt employee has crossed the 40-hour overtime threshold. A seemingly short pre-shift meeting, online training module, after-hours orientation, or required conference call can affect the overtime calculation.
Wage Complaints Create a Separate Retaliation Risk
The investigation also found that an employee was suspended after questioning the employer’s wage practices. The FLSA separately prohibits employers from discharging or otherwise discriminating against employees because they have made protected complaints concerning FLSA rights. 29 U.S.C. § 215(a)(3).
Importantly, employees do not necessarily need to file a formal lawsuit or government charge before retaliation protections arise. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that oral complaints can qualify for protection when they are sufficiently clear and detailed to put the employer on notice that the employee is asserting statutory wage rights. Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp., 563 U.S. 1 (2011).
Practical Takeaways for Employers
- Audit mandatory activities. Review orientation, training, staff meetings, pre-shift meetings, online modules, and required conference calls to determine whether nonexempt employees are recording that time.
- Look beyond scheduled shifts. Payroll systems should capture actual compensable work, not merely an employee’s scheduled hours.
- Recalculate overtime using all compensable time. An hour of unpaid training may create more than an hour of liability if it pushes the employee above 40 hours.
- Train managers on wage complaints. Supervisors should know that complaints about unpaid work or overtime can constitute legally protected activity and should be escalated rather than met with discipline.
- Investigate complaints before taking adverse action. When discipline closely follows a wage complaint, employers should carefully document legitimate reasons for the decision and confirm that the complaint played no role.
For Georgia employers and employees, the Richmond Hill investigation is a useful reminder that relatively routine timekeeping practices can create substantial liability when repeated across employees and workweeks—and that mishandling an employee’s complaint can turn a payroll issue into a separate retaliation claim.