Travel Time

Determining when and how much to pay employees for their travel and commuting time is a complex subject, governed by regulations promulgated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employers need to know what is considered working time when employees are traveling; how to deal with weekend time that may combine business and personal travel; and how to handle requests for travel reimbursements when company vehicles are used for "commuting."

 

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NEWS/ARTICLES

The Three Rs Of Managing Travel And Entertainment Expenses: Reports, Receipts, Review

 

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FAQs

1. If an employee travels on company business outside of his/her regular work hours, is that time considered working time? 
   
   
2. If an hourly employee must fly to another division of the company, does the employer have to pay for his travel time? He will be leaving on Sunday and returning the following Saturday.
   
   
3. Must an employer pay employees for their commute time if they drive a company vehicle from their homes to the first job of the day?
   
   
4. A service tech covers a three-state area for the company. He doesn't come into the office to get his assignments. Instead, he receives his daily schedule via e-mail before his last job of the day. It can take him three hours to get from his home to the first job of the day. We pay him for traveling among work sites during the day, but he's suggested that we have to pay him for his extraordinary commuting time. Do we? 
   
   
5. Prior to going out on their first call of the day, employees log onto their laptop computers to download assignments and maps, and to respond to e-mail. They never come into the office. Must we pay them for the time they travel to the first job of the day? 
   
   
6. As a condition of continued employment, an employee must seek counseling. The company chose the therapist and pays for the counseling sessions. She goes on her days off, but she's now insisting that we also pay her for her travel time to/from the therapist's office. This seems personal to us, so we don't want to pay. Must we pay her for this time?
    
7. An employee, who normally works in New York City, traveled to Washington, DC, for a special one-day seminar. Must she be paid for this traveling time?