Paying For Employee Travel Time

If one of your employees travels from job-site to job-site in a company truck, before taking the truck home in the evening, how much of that drive time is compensable? When, if ever, should an employee be paid for the commute between work and home?

If another employee leaves home in the morning in her personal automobile and returns late in the evening after a one-day job in another state, is all of her travel time compensable? What if the assignment lasts for more than one day?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal law governing minimum wage and overtime requirements for all “non-exempt” employees, addresses these questions regarding travel time.

The regulations state that:

• Time spent traveling during normal work hours is considered compensable work time.
• An employee’s commute from home to work, even in the employer’s vehicle, is usually not compensable.
• Travel that falls “all in a day’s work,” such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, must be compensated.
• Travel from home to work in an emergency may be compensable, particularly if the employee reports to a site that is not his or her usual workplace.
• Time the employee spends in travel away from home outside of regular working hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus, or automobile and is free to relax, is not considered compensable time.
• Regular meal period time is not considered compensable time.

If an employee travels out of town, travel time is compensable if:

• The employee completes the trip in one day, regardless of whether the travel occurs in a company vehicle, personal automobile or public transportation.
• The trip lasts more than a day, but the travel time occurs during the employee’s regular work hours, even if the travel occurs on Saturday or Sunday.
• Travel to another city in a personal automobile or public conveyance that takes place outside of the employee’s regular work hours is generally not compensable if the trip lasts longer than a day.

As a mistake in this area can be costly, it is important to know the law. Employees who have not been properly paid may be able to recover all of the unpaid wages owed to them for up to three years plus liquidated damages in an equal amount and attorneys’ fees.

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