Your Legal Questions Answered

Your concern about the employment situation of your fiancée is indeed valid, especially given the details you've provided about her compensation and working hours. Some issues to consider are whether she is misclassified and what portion of her on-call hours are compensable.

Classification of Employees in Colorado

The first question is whether your fiancée is correctly classified as an "exempt" employee. In Colorado, an employee can be classified as exempt under the administrative employee exemption or the professional employee exemption. An exempt administrative employee is one who is salaried and paid at least the applicable weekly salary under Rule 2.5 of the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order (COMPS Order), directly serves an executive, regularly performs duties important to the executive's decision-making process, regularly exercises independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance, and performs work where the primary duty is nonmanual in nature and directly related to management policies or general business operations.

The minimum salary threshold for exempt employees under the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order (COMPS Order) is indeed $55,000 currently. If she's earning significantly below the $55,000 annual threshold you mentioned, and her job title is "Dispatch," which implies she may not be performing primarily executive, administrative, or professional duties, her classification as a salaried exempt employee could be incorrect.

It's important to note that the exemption status of a particular position depends upon the functions assigned to it, not upon the title bestowed upon it May v. Department of Human Servs., Office of Youth Servs., 976 P.2d 281. Furthermore, the Colorado Minimum Wage Order and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) may have different requirements for these exemptions, and when both apply, the law providing greater protection for the employee or setting the higher standard shall apply.

Hours Worked

The hours worked for an on-call employee are not straightforward, and it is not typically equivalent to those hours the employee is "on-call." Instead, employers are usually not obligated to compensate employees for on-call time if the employees are allowed to depart from the workplace and can largely use this time for their own activities. However, according to Colorado law, employers must compensate for waiting or standby time, during which employees cannot use their time freely for personal matters and are under the employer's control and directives. See, Colorado Regulation 7 CCR 1103-1-1.9.

So, if she is allowed to leave the employer's premises and have the freedom to use her on-call time largely for personal activities, with minimal restrictions, then the on-call time may not be compensable. On the other hand, if she faces significant restrictions during her on-call time—such as being required to remain on or near the employer's premises, having to respond to calls within a very short period, or experiencing a high volume of calls that effectively preclude personal activities—then she could be considered as working during these periods, making the on-call time compensable.

As you can see, it's a fact based determination, and I would recommend your girlfriend speak to an attorney to discuss her options. We can be reached at (303) 688-0944 if she would like to talk to us.