Aguilar

The issue in this case is whether the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC) is required to pay employees who work less than 24-hour shifts for time when the employees are allowed to sleep. We conclude ARC is required to compensate the employees for all the hours they are subject to ARC’S control, including hours when the employees are allowed to sleep.

Facts

ARC is a state-funded, nonprofit organization which provides care for mentally handicapped individuals throughout the Imperial Valley. ARC operates group homes for these mentally handicapped individuals. ARC employs individuals at the group homes to stay with the mentally handicapped individuals, overseeing their housekeeping, meals, homework and other needs.

The employees involved in this case worked a four-day work week with four days on and three days off. For the first two days of their work week, employees would arrive at 2 p.m. and work until 10 p.m., an eight-hour shift. ARC then required the employees to stay at the group home for an overnight work shift. From 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., the employees were on call but ARC allowed them to sleep. Typically, ARC provided a bed or sofa bed in the group home’s study…