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One of the areas of wage and hour law which often creates
confusion is payment for travel time. The rules are different, for
example, depending on how long the employee is away from home, and
whether the employee is driving or taking public transportation.
The below list provides a set of helpful practical rules that are
gleaned directly from the Department of Labor's fact sheet on the subject.
Ordinary travel between home and
work is not compensable time, even if the work location changes
periodically within the same commuting area.
If an employee is traveling to a
different city (outside normal commute) and back again in one day,
you must compensate the employee for all travel time during that
day.
If an employee arrives at any work
location, and then travels to another site as part of their work
duties, the travel must be counted as work time.
Travel that keeps an employee away
from home overnight is treated differently. The employer must
normally only pay for travel time which occurs during normal work
hours (even if on a weekend).
Keep in mind that the above rule
for overnight travel only applies if the employee travels as a
passenger. If the employee drives himself, or any coworkers,
consult your legal counsel on whether the trip is compensable.
Lastly, keep in mind that the
Department of Labor does not have a hard and fast rule on the
dividing line between a "long commute" and
"travel." The agency and courts look at what is
reasonable. For example, giving an employee an assignment in a
distant suburb of a metropolitan area is likely not considered
travel, but asking a rural employee to travel 50-60 miles to
another town may be travel (even if the trip between towns is
quicker because of traffic). Also, never forget that state laws may
be more expansive than federal law in this area, and legal counsel
should always be consulted before drafting any policies in this
area.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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