Skip to main content

e-Li: Electronic Library

Sleep Time

There are two different rules applicable to sleep time, one for firefighters and law enforcement personnel under the § 7(k) exemption,[1] and one for all other employees.[2]   The rules governing sleep time for all other employees differ from the rules for firefighters and law enforcement personnel under the § 7(k) exemption only with respect to employees whose shifts are exactly 24 hours – sleep time may be excluded from hours worked by employees whose shift is exactly 24 hours and who are not under the § 7(k) exemption. All other requirements for exclusion of sleep time are the same as those for public safety employees under the § 7(k) exemption.


[1]  29 C.F.R. § 553.222.

[2]  29 C.F.R. § 785.20 et seq.