Booting Up Is Not Work: Federal Court Clarifies Pay Rules for Remote Employees
On September 4, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio concluded that the workday starts when remote call center workers begin operating a program or application they use as part of the principal work activities they are employed to perform, not when they first engage their computers . This ruling, in Lott v. Recker Consulting LLC, supports arguments that the compensable workday in remote call center environments is shorter than the time elapsed between boot-up and boot-down . Quick Hits In Lott v. Recker Consulting LLC , a “boot-up time” case, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ruled that compensable time begins for remote call center workers when they start operating programs that are integral to their work . Likewise, compensable time ends when the worker closes the last program. The court found that turning on a computer, typing in usernames and passwords, and opening applications are preliminary activities and not compensable t...