Hours Worked: Montana

Federal law and guidance on this subject should be reviewed together with this section.

Author: Jason Ritchie, Holland & Hart LLP

Summary

• Montana regulations broadly require that employers pay for "…all the time an employee is required to be on duty or on the employer's premises or at a prescribed workplace, and all time during which he is suffered or permitted to work for the employer." See Overview.
• Employers must prevent any work they do not want performed and compensate employees for any work of which they are aware or which they suffer to be done. Merely making a rule against performance of certain work is often not enough to avoid liability for hours which are in fact worked in violation of such rules. See Overview.
• Specific situations regarding hours worked under Montana law, such as waiting or sleeping time, are construed similarly to federal law. See Waiting Time and On-Call Time; Travel Time; Training, Lectures and Meetings; Sleeping and Activities Before and After a Shift ('Preliminary and Postliminary').
• Montana employers are not required to provide rest breaks, but if a rest break of less than 30 minutes is provided, the time must be counted toward hours worked. Employers are not required to provide meal breaks, but if a meal break is provided, it must be counted toward hours worked unless it is a bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or longer. See Break Periods.