29 CFR § 785.14 - General.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t29/s785.14"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "29 CFR § 785.14 - General."
title_number: 29
title_name: "Labor"
section_number: "785.14"
section_name: "General."
chapter_name: "WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
subchapter_number: "B"
subchapter_name: "STATEMENTS OF GENERAL POLICY OR INTERPRETATION NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO REGULATIONS"
part_number: "785"
part_name: "HOURS WORKED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "52 Stat. 1060; 29 U.S.C. 201-219; 29 U.S.C. 254. Pub. L. 104-188, 100 Stat. 1755."
regulatory_source: "26 FR 190, Jan. 11, 1961, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "785"
---
# 785.14 General.
Whether waiting time is time worked under the Act depends upon particular circumstances. The determination involves “scrutiny and construction of the agreements between particular parties, appraisal of their practical construction of the working agreement by conduct, consideration of the nature of the service, and its relation to the waiting time, and all of the circumstances. Facts may show that the employee was engaged to wait or they may show that he waited to be engaged.” (*Skidmore* v. *Swift,* 323 U.S. 134 (1944)) Such questions “must be determined in accordance with common sense and the general concept of work or employment.” (*Central Mo. Tel. Co.* v. *Conwell,* 170 F. 2d 641 (C.A. 8, 1948))