Solving the Puzzle of Travel Time
July, 2003
Used with permission from the publisher
By
Daniel Feldman
In keeping track of all hours worked for
non-exempt employees, nothing can be more confusing and frustrating than travel
time. While travel time does not rear its ugly head for exempt employees, a
non-exempt employee who travels for business often can be a nightmare for an
accounting and payroll department in calculating that employee's paycheck each
pay period. The Fair Labor Standards Act is very specific with regard to whether
travel time counts as working (and therefore compensable) time for non-exempt
employees. The first thing to determine is whether the employee is staying
overnight or is traveling all in one day.
If a non-exempt employee takes a one-day trip and does not stay overnight, an
employer must pay for all travel time above and beyond the time it takes the
employee to normally get to work. So, for example, if an employee is normally
scheduled to work from 9 to 5, but on a certain day needs to travel and arrives
at the airport at 7 a.m., takes the flight, works all day, and then the return
flight lands at 8 p.m. that same day, the employee must be paid from 7 a.m. to 8
p.m. This is the case even though five of those hours are outside the employee's
normal working hours. However, a deduction can still be made for the employee's
mealtime - as long as the mealtime is duty free. An important note here is that
the employee's "clock" does not start running until he/she arrives at the
airport. Traveling from the employee's home to the airport (as well as traveling
from the airport back to the employee's home at the end of the day) does not
count as time worked and is not compensable because an employee does not have to
be paid for normal commuting travel from home to work and back. However, if an
employee commutes between appointments and/or worksites during the workday, then
that travel time is compensable.
While one-day travel is fairly straightforward, overnight travel is where is can
get tricky. If a non-exempt employee is required to travel away from home and
stay overnight, travel time during the employee's normal workday must be counted
as time worked. This rule applies to overnight travel not only during the week,
but also on the weekend. Therefore, if an employee is regularly scheduled to
work from 9 to 5, for example, and that employee travels and is required to stay
overnight, the employee must be compensated for any travel time that occurs
during the employee's normal business hours. Therefore, if an employee is
traveling to a convention that runs from Monday through Friday, but leaves from
the train station on Sunday at 3 p.m. and arrives at the destination at 7 p.m.,
that employee must be paid for two hours on Sunday (because those two hours were
during the employee's normally scheduled work hours of 9 to 5 regardless of the
fact that the employee does not work on Sundays). Note that the employee does
not have to be paid for the hours between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., even though it is
still travel time, because the travel occurred outside of normal working hours.
Therefore, businesses that are looking to decrease costs in travel would be wise
to send non-exempt employees on overnight travel that takes place outside of
normal business hours.
A few final notes about travel time. First, if an employee is performing work,
it is compensable whenever the work is performed. So even if your company sends
its non-exempt employees on overnight travel outside of normal business hours,
if the employee performs work while traveling, then that work time is
compensable. Also, employers should be mindful of travel time when making
calculations for overtime. Any time that is credited to a non-exempt employee as
compensable travel time must also count toward the number of hours an employee
works during the particular workweek, which may have serious overtime
ramifications. Finally, employers should be sure to check state wage and hour
laws to see if there are any more restrictions regarding payment for travel time
in the state(s) in which your company does business.
While the travel time question has stumped many companies, remembering the rules
for overnight versus one-day travel will help ensure that your company tracks
and pays its non-exempt employees properly and in compliance with wage and hour
laws.
