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Travel Time
The general rule is that travel between work and home is not work time
as long as the employee is not performing any work on the trip. However,
some travel time must be counted as work time. The following standards
apply to travel time:
- Normal Home to Work Travel:
Travel directly from an employee’s home to an employee’s place of work
is not work time when the employee is using his/her own vehicle. 29
C.F.R. § 785.35. When an employee uses a company vehicle to travel from
home to work (or engages in activities incidental to the use of the
vehicle such as filling the vehicle with gas), the travel time will
not be work time if
- (a) the travel is within the normal commuting area for the employer’s
business and
- (b) there is an agreement between the employer and the employee excluding
such duties from compensable work. 29 U.S.C. § 254(a)(2).
- Work During Travel:
An employee who rides in an employer’s vehicle from a meeting place
to a job site is not considered to be working while traveling.
The same is true when returning from the last place of work in the day
to an employee’s home. However, such travel as a passenger will be work
time if the employee has performed any work before traveling to the
job site or performs any work after leaving the job site. Also, if the
employee performs any work while traveling, such as reading a report,
then the travel must be considered work time. Any work which an employee
performs while traveling must be counted as hours worked. Thus, if an
employee spent time drafting proposals while riding in an airplane,
the employee must be compensated for that time. Also, if an employee
is engaged to drive a vehicle, equipment, or personnel to a work site,
the employee is likely working while driving.29 C.F.R. § 785.41.
- Travel that is All in a Day’s Work:
Travel from one workplace to another in the same day is work time. In
some cases, a brief amount of work at an office or other reporting place
will start the employee’s work for the day and the subsequent travel
will be work time. This rule applies to travel time spent as a passenger
and as a driver. 29 C.F.R 785.38.
- Special One-Day Assignment Out of City:
Travel for a one-day assignment to another city that does not involve
an overnight stay must be counted as hours worked. The employee must
be compensated for travel to another city which occurs before, during
and after the employee’s regular working hours. Bona fide meal periods
and travel between the employee’s home and the airport/train station
need not be counted as hours worked. 29 C.F.R. § 785.37. However, if
the event that necessitates the out-of-town trip is a normal, contemplated,
and mandated incident of employment (annual training for example) then
the travel time is not compensable work time. See Imada v. City of Hercules
, 138 F.3d 1294 (9th Cir. 1998).
- Overnight Assignment Out of City:
When an employee travels for work away from the home community and is
gone at least one night, different compensation rules apply:
- a. During Working Hours: Travel during an employee’s regular working
hours – regardless of whether such travel occurs on a weekday or on
the weekend – must be counted as hours worked. However, the employee
need not count bona fide meal periods as hours worked (unless business
is discussed or performed during those meal periods). 29 C.F.R. § 785.39.
- b. Outside of Working Hours: Travel outside of an employee’s normal
working hours – regardless of whether such travel occurs on a weekday
or on the weekend – may be compensable, depending on the method of travel:
- i. As a Passenger: If the employee travels as a passenger on
a plane, train, boat, bus or automobile, the travel time will not
be compensable. 29 C.F.R. § 785.39.
- ii. As the Driver: If the employee is required to drive the car
(or plane, boat, etc.), the travel time will be compensable (except
for the bona fide meal or sleeping periods). 29 C.F.R. §785.41.
If, however, an employee is offered the option of using public transportation
to travel, but instead requests permission to drive a car, the employer
may count as hours worked either the time the employee spent driving
or the time it would have taken for him or her to travel using the
public transportation. 29 C.F.R. § 785.40.
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