Schedule changes and texts on your day off

What to know

1. Know the rule if you're hourly. Work your employer doesn't ask for but lets you do is still work time, and it has to be paid. Source: DOL¹
2. Count off-clock work. If you answer the phone at your desk during lunch, that's work time, because you weren't fully relieved from duty. Source: DOL¹ The same idea applies when you handle work tasks on your phone after your shift. Log it and report it to payroll.
3. Know what on-call means. If you have to stay on call at your workplace, you're working. If you can be on call from home or leave a number where you can be reached, it usually isn't work time, unless the limits on your time are tight. Source: DOL¹
4. Keep your own record: every posted schedule (photo it), every change, who made it and when, and the hours you actually worked. Compare it to your pay stub. Source: Reading your pay stub
5. Check for a scheduling law where you work. In Oregon, for example, large retail, hospitality and food service employers (500 or more employees worldwide) must give you a written schedule at least 14 days ahead, and pay extra for changes made without that notice. Source: Oregon BOLI³
6. Know you can say no to extra shifts in those places. In Oregon's law, you may decline shifts that aren't on your written schedule, and you can't be scheduled within 10 hours after a shift ends unless you ask for or agree to it, or you get time and a half. Source: Oregon BOLI³
7. Set a boundary in writing, kindly. Tell your manager how and when to reach you on days off for real emergencies, and ask that off-hours work be scheduled and paid. Scripts are below.

A text to your manager about days off

Hi [name], quick thing so I can plan. On my days off I'm not always near my phone. If something's urgent, please call. For anything else, I'll answer on my next shift. If you need me to do work on a day off, can we put it on the schedule so I'm clocked in? Thanks!

An email to payroll about off-clock time

Subject: Hours not on my timecard, [dates]

Hi [name],

On [dates], I worked [number] minutes off the clock answering work texts and calls from [manager] about [topic]. My log is attached. Please add this time to my next paycheck.

Thank you,
[name] · [employee ID]

Saying it in person

"I want to be reliable. Can we agree that if you need me to work on a day off, it goes on the schedule and I'm clocked in?"

If it doesn't work

• Not paid for texts and calls you logged? Ask payroll in writing, attach your log, and keep a copy. If it isn't fixed, contact the DOL's Wage and Hour Division or your state labor department. Source: DOL¹
• Punished for asking about pay or a scheduling law? Write down what happened and when, and see Your rights at work.
• Constant last-minute changes making life impossible? Ask for a set schedule in writing. If nothing changes, it may be time to look for a job that respects your time.