Is this legal?

We are in Oregon. My roommate is constantly coming home from work after only being there an hour or two. He says it's 'mandatory time off.' Because the company isn't busy with calls, they send people home. He is a full time employee, but is only working about 20 hours a week.

Is this legal? Or should he be getting compensated for time lost when they send him home?

Sorry to hear about this, and best regards to your roommate. Unfortunately, just based on your brief description what is taking place here is likely lawful. Absent other written guarantees, the general rule is that an employer is only obligated to pay for actual time worked. I realize this is probably not what your roommate wants to do, but truthfully if the pattern continues the best option may well be to seek work elsewhere. Hope things work out. AJJ