Brewer v. Patel (1993) 20 Cal.App.4th 1017 made it clear that “on call” or “stand-by” time or waiting time is not compensable to property managers when they are waiting for a plumber or prospective renter to show up. Brewer v. Patel concerned a motel employee who was required to live on the premises, but only worked about 5 hours a day. Other cases to look at are Isner v. Falkenberg (2008) 164 Cal.App. 4th 1393 (wage order as applied to employee who lived on the premises for a nursing home) and Van Nothdurft v. Streck (2014) 227 Cal.App. 4th 524 (apartment manager who also had free rent and Wage Order No. 5–2001).
While most employee competent employee oriented attorney’s know the law, some don’t. So rather than sending a letter, I am going to start referring them to my website!