Employees sent on weekend training time: Does that affect their overtime pay?

Q. We sent a few employees to training over a weekend. They weren’t required to attend, but the course will help them do their jobs better. We paid the hourly ­workers for that time, but not overtime. Do we owe them overtime if they worked 40 hours before the training session? — P.K., Texas

A. Yes, time spent attending training that will assist employees in performing their jobs is compensable time under wage-and-hour laws. The time spent doing this “work” must be aggregated with all other hours worked during the same workweek in determining whether and how much overtime is owed.