Anytime an employer requires an employee's attendance that time must be considered as hours worked, even though the employee may not be engaged in a productive work activity. If you require attendance, you must pay the employee for hours spent in class.
Attendance takes place outside an employee's regular work hours.
The training provided is not directly related to an employee's current job. An employee does not perform any productive work during the course of the training. See 29 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 785 . Federal law recognizes special exceptions in which the criteria listed in the question above would not have to be met in full. For example, an employer-established program of instruction that corresponds with a program offered by an accredited institution of higher learning, such as a community college would qualify as an exception.