What Utah Business Owners Need to Know About Training Pay, Overtime, Remote Training, Payroll Compliance, and PEO Support
You hire a new employee and schedule several hours of onboarding and training before they’re ready to work independently.
Or maybe an existing employee needs to complete a new software course, safety program, compliance module, or mandatory Zoom training from home.
A deceptively simple question follows: Do you have to pay employees for training time?
For many employers, the answer is yes—but not every training situation is treated the same way under federal wage-and-hour rules.
That distinction matters.
Training time affects more than an employee’s paycheck. It can affect hours worked, overtime calculations, payroll records, timekeeping practices, and ultimately an employer’s wage-and-hour compliance.
For a growing Utah company, the better question isn’t simply, “Should we pay for this training?”
It’s: How should training be classified, recorded, communicated, and processed through payroll?
That’s where having a clear HR and payroll process becomes important.
🎥 Josh’s Perspective: Paying Employees for Training
Denali HR President Josh Henderson recently addressed this question from the employer’s perspective.
Josh explains why employers need to think carefully about compensating employees for training and, particularly, why a different training rate should be clearly communicated before it is used.
▶️ Watch Josh explain what Utah employers should consider when paying employees for training time.
When Does Employee Training Have to Be Paid?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs, and similar activities generally does not have to be counted as working time only when all four of these conditions are met:
- The training occurs outside the employee’s regular working hours.
- Attendance is genuinely voluntary.
- The training is not directly related to the employee’s current job.
- The employee performs no productive work during the training.
If all four requirements aren’t satisfied, the training may be compensable working time.
That means required job training is very different from an employee voluntarily taking an unrelated evening course.
The U.S. Department of Labor gives the example of employees who are required to attend specialized training related to their work. Because attendance is required and the training relates to their jobs, the training is compensable.
The word “voluntary” matters too. Calling a program voluntary doesn’t necessarily make it voluntary if employees understand that their employment, working conditions, or advancement could be negatively affected by refusing to attend.
Quick Training-Pay Test
| Ask This Question | What It Tells You |
| Is attendance required? | Required training will generally count toward hours worked. |
| Does it happen during regular working hours? | Training during regular working hours generally counts as working time. |
| Is it directly related to the employee’s current job? | Job-related training may be compensable. |
| Is the employee doing productive work? | Productive work during the session weighs toward compensable time. |
| Are all four FLSA exclusions satisfied? | Only then may the training fall outside compensable working time under the general rule. |
The details matter, which is why employers should evaluate the actual circumstances rather than adopt a blanket rule that “training is paid” or “training is unpaid.”
Can You Pay a Different Rate for Training?
A separate training rate creates another layer of payroll compliance.
Federal law generally permits an employer to pay a nonexempt employee different hourly rates for different types of work, provided applicable minimum-wage and overtime requirements are satisfied. However, employers also need to consider how multiple rates affect overtime calculations.
Utah law adds an important notice requirement.
Under Utah Code §34-28-4, employers must notify employees at hiring of their rate of pay and notify them of changes to that rate before the change takes effect.
That makes communication and documentation especially important.
If a Utah business intends to use a different rate for compensable training, that shouldn’t first become apparent when the employee receives a paycheck.
The rate should be established appropriately, communicated in advance, and reflected accurately in the company’s timekeeping and payroll systems.
Remote Training Still Requires Accurate Timekeeping
Remote work doesn’t make wage-and-hour obligations disappear.
If a nonexempt employee completes compensable training from home, the fact that the employer cannot physically see the employee doesn’t automatically make the time unpaid.
The U.S. Department of Labor has specifically addressed telework recordkeeping. Employers must compensate employees for hours worked when the employer knows or has reason to believe the work is being performed. The DOL has also explained that employers can establish reasonable procedures for employees to report unscheduled working time.
That makes the system particularly important for remote teams.
Instead of asking managers to estimate how long someone spent training, employers can establish clear procedures for recording:
- required virtual training;
- onboarding sessions;
- webinars and meetings;
- learning-management-system coursework;
- after-hours required training; and
- other compensable remote activities.
The same principle applies whether an employee is sitting in a Sandy office or completing required training from a home office elsewhere.
If time is compensable, the payroll process needs a reliable way to capture it.
Where a PEO Helps
This is where a Professional Employer Organization can provide considerably more value than simply processing a paycheck.
PEOs commonly provide services involving payroll processing, payroll tax administration, human resources, benefits, risk management, and regulatory compliance assistance, while the client business continues managing its day-to-day workforce.
For employee training, that HR and payroll infrastructure can help a business build a repeatable process around questions such as:
Is this training compensable? How should employees record the time? Which rate applies? Could the additional hours create overtime? Has the pay rate been properly communicated? How will the information flow from the training system into payroll?
A well-designed process connects those decisions rather than leaving HR, managers, training platforms, and payroll operating independently.
What a Structured Training-Pay Process Looks Like
| Stage | HR/Payroll Process |
| Training is scheduled | Determine whether attendance is required and whether the time is compensable. |
| Employee is notified | Clearly communicate schedule and applicable compensation practices. |
| Training occurs | Capture compensable time through the established timekeeping system. |
| Payroll reviews hours | Check rates, total hours, and potential overtime implications. |
| Payroll is processed | Maintain accurate payroll and time records. |
| Questions arise | HR/payroll support can review documentation and help management determine next steps. |
Denali HR’s Perspective
Training should help employees become better at their jobs.
It shouldn’t create payroll confusion.
For Utah business owners, that requires more than choosing an online training platform or sending employees a calendar invitation. The company needs a process connecting training, timekeeping, employee communication, payroll, HR documentation, and compliance.
That becomes even more important as businesses add remote employees, online learning systems, automated payroll workflows, and increasingly sophisticated HR technology.
Technology can record a completed training module.
It can automate an approval.
It can move recorded hours into payroll.
But the business still needs people who understand whether the time should be treated as working time in the first place and how wage-and-hour rules apply to the circumstances.
That’s the human layer technology doesn’t eliminate.
Denali HR helps Utah businesses connect payroll administration with broader HR support, benefits administration, compliance guidance, risk management, and PEO services so that workforce processes don’t operate in isolation.
Because good payroll isn’t simply about getting the final number right.
It’s about having the right process behind that number.
Final Takeaway
So, do you have to pay employees for training time?
Often, yes—particularly when training is required, takes place during normal working hours, directly relates to the employee’s current job, or involves productive work.
But federal law provides circumstances in which training does not have to count as hours worked, which is why employers should evaluate each situation against the applicable FLSA requirements rather than relying on a universal rule.
For Utah employers, pay-rate communication, accurate timekeeping, overtime calculations, and payroll documentation should all be part of that process.
And for remote teams, the same fundamentals apply.
Better training requires better systems. Better systems create better payroll.
Speak With a Local HR Advisor
If training, payroll, timekeeping, or HR compliance is becoming harder to manage as your company grows, Denali HR can help you review the processes behind them.
Call: +1 801 480 0002
Book a consultation: Contact Us – Denali HR
About the Author
This article was reviewed by Josh Henderson, President of Denali HR.
Denali HR provides payroll services, employee benefits administration, HR support, risk management, and PEO services for small and mid-sized businesses.
Sources & Additional Reading
- U.S. Department of Labor — FLSA Hours Worked Advisor: Lectures, Meetings and Training Programs
- U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #53: Training and Seminars
- U.S. Department of Labor — Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-5: Tracking Teleworking Employees’ Hours
- Utah Legislature — Utah Code §34-28-4: Notice of Paydays and Rate of Pay
- National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) — PEO Resources