Under what specific federal labor law provision, or its state equivalent, might a business remain obligated to pay employees during a period of operational disruption, even if no work is performed?

A business might remain obligated to pay employees during a period of operational disruption, even if no work is performed, primarily under state-level "reporting time pay" laws or, at the federal level, due to violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Additionally, such obligations can arise from collective bargaining agreements.

Many U.S. states have "reporting time pay" provisions, also known as "show-up pay" laws. These state labor laws mandate that if an employer requires an employee to report for a scheduled shift but then sends them home early, or does not allow them to work at all, due to a lack of work or operational issues—such as equipment failure, a power outage, or an unexpected closure—the employer must pay the employee for a minimum number of hours, even if no work was performed. This compensation is intended to cover the employee's time and expense in reporting to work as scheduled. For example, some states require payment for at least two or four hours at the employee's regular rate of pay. The specific triggers, the required minimum hours of pay, and any exemptions vary significantly by state.

Federally, under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a business may incur an obligation to pay employees for a period where no work is performed if it fails to provide the legally required notice before a mass layoff or plant closing. The WARN Act generally applies to employers with 100 or more employees and requires them to provide at least 60 calendar days' advance written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. A plant closing refers to a permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment, or one or more facilities or operating units within a single site of employment, if the shutdown results in an employment loss for 50 or more employees during any 30-day period. A mass layoff means a reduction in force which is not a plant closing and results in an employment loss at a single site of employment during any 30-day period for at least 33% of the employees and at least 50 employees, or at least 500 employees. If an employer violates the WARN Act by failing to provide this notice, they may be liable to affected employees for back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to 60 days. This means employees would receive compensation for wages and benefits for the days they should have received notice but did not, even if they were not working during that period due to the closure or layoff. Back pay under WARN is compensation for the employer's failure to provide notice, not for work performed.

Additionally, while not a specific federal or state law provision itself, a legally binding collective bargaining agreement (CBA) can obligate a business to pay employees during periods of disruption. Collective bargaining agreements, which are contracts negotiated between employers and labor unions under the framework of the federal National Labor Relations Act, often include clauses that guarantee a minimum number of hours of pay for employees who report to work, or provide for pay continuity during temporary shutdowns, regardless of whether work is available. These contractual obligations are legally enforceable.