Travel Time Under the FLSA: What Counts as Commuting and What You Must Pay For
Travel Time Under the FLSA: What Counts as Commuting vs. Work-Related Travel
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Portal-to-Portal Act, not all time spent moving from point A to point B is created equal. The baseline rule is that ordinary home-to-work commuting is not compensable. By contrast, work-related travel that is part of the employee’s principal activities—such as travel between job sites during the day, or certain one-day or overnight assignments—often counts as hours worked and must be paid (and included in overtime). Getting these distinctions right prevents wage claims, liquidated damages, and costly audits.
Key idea, in one sentence: If travel is for the employer’s benefit and integral to the day’s work, pay it; if it is the employee’s ordinary commute, do not.
Foundational Definitions
Ordinary commuting
Travel from home to the regular worksite before the workday begins, and travel home from the regular worksite after the day ends, is normally non-compensable. This is true even when the commute is long, traffic is heavy, or the employee chooses public transportation.
Principal activities & workday
Once an employee begins their first principal activity (e.g., picking up required tools at a shop, loading a company vehicle when integral), the continuous workday generally begins. Travel within the continuous workday is commonly hours worked.
Typical Scenarios and How to Pay Them
1) Home → regular worksite (and back)
- Treatment: Not paid (ordinary commute).
- Notes: This remains true whether the employee drives a personal car or a company vehicle—unless company rules impose material restrictions that convert the drive into work (e.g., mandatory deliveries or safety inspections en route).
2) Home → temporary worksite (special one-day assignment)
- Treatment: Extra time that exceeds the normal commute is generally paid.
- Example: Normal commute is 30 minutes. Sent for one day to a courthouse 90 minutes away. Pay the 60-minute excess each way; the first 30 minutes mirrors ordinary commute.
3) Travel between job sites during the day
- Treatment: Paid. Moving from one customer location to another or from a warehouse to a job site is part of the workday.
- Tip: Capture this time in the timekeeping app; round only per lawful neutral rounding practices.
4) Report to a meeting point first
- Treatment: If employees must report to a central location to receive instructions, pick up tools, or ride in a crew truck, then the travel from the meeting point to the job site is paid. The home → meeting point leg is usually unpaid ordinary commute (unless the meeting point itself is temporary and significantly farther than the regular worksite—then consider the “excess over normal commute” rule).
5) Emergency call-backs
- Treatment: When an employee is called back to work for an emergency outside normal hours, most jurisdictions treat the home → site → home travel as hours worked, or at least compensate under call-out minimums by policy or CBA.
6) Overnight travel (same time zone or not)
- Treatment (general): Travel that cuts across the employee’s normal working hours is paid—even on non-working days (e.g., Sunday afternoon flight during usual M–F 9–5 hours). Travel outside normal hours as a passenger can be unpaid; however, if the employee must drive, it is typically paid.
- Working while traveling: Time spent actually working (e.g., email triage with Wi-Fi, drafting a report) is always compensable.
Airports & connections: Waiting at the gate is paid if it occurs during normal work hours for an overnight trip. Long layovers outside work hours as a passenger can be unpaid unless the employer requires job duties.
Illustrative Timeline (Graphic)
Common Pain Points and How to Fix Them
- Company vehicles: Simply driving a company truck home does not make the commute paid. But if policy requires tasks—fueling, securing cargo, completing inspections—the time to perform those tasks is work.
- Tools & donning/doffing: If the employee must stop at a facility to pick up specialized tools/PPE and that pickup is integral and indispensable, the workday starts there; subsequent travel is paid.
- Field techs/remote first job: When the first job changes daily, clarify what is the “normal commute” benchmark (e.g., home ↔ closest hub) and pay the excess for unusually distant first calls if using a special one-day assignment approach.
- Flights and time zones: Use the employee’s home-base work hours to decide which flight segments count. Keep the rule consistent across teams.
- Work while commuting: Directing the employee to work during the drive (voice meetings requiring note-taking, scanning dashboards) risks converting time into paid hours. Keep commute time work-free.
Policy checklist (employers): (1) Define regular vs. temporary worksites; (2) State commute baseline and “excess over normal” rule; (3) Specify when the continuous workday starts (tools/PPE pickup?); (4) Capture inter-site travel in timekeeping; (5) Distinguish passenger vs. driver on overnights; (6) Provide travel pay examples; (7) Train supervisors to avoid off-the-clock work during commutes.
Calculations: Examples You Can Reuse
- Hourly technician, one-day 90-mile assignment: Normal commute 30 min. Morning drive 1h45m; evening return 1h40m. Excess paid = (75 + 70) = 145 minutes (2.42 hours) at base rate; overtime if weekly hours exceed 40.
- Overnight trip (passenger): Employee works 8–4. Sunday flight 1–5 PM. Pay 1–4 PM (within normal hours). If they answer emails 4–5 PM, pay that work time too.
- Between-site shuttling: 20 minutes from Site A to B, 25 minutes B to C, 15 minutes C to warehouse. All paid as part of the continuous workday.
Documentation Wins Cases
Most disputes arise not from the rule, but from missing records. Use apps that auto-stamp departure/arrival to job sites, prompt for purpose of travel, and separate commute vs. work travel categories. Store exemplar scenarios in your handbook and payroll SOP, and audit quarterly.
Conclusão
The travel-time puzzle is solvable with a few durable anchors: commuting is personal, inter-day and assignment-driven travel is often work, and overnight travel depends on when it occurs and whether the employee is working or driving. Build clear policy language, track the minutes, and apply a consistent “excess over normal commute” method for special one-day trips. Doing so protects employees’ pay, ensures overtime accuracy, and keeps your program audit-ready.
Quick Guide — Travel Time: Commuting vs. Work-Related
- Ordinary commute (home ↔ regular worksite) is not paid. 29 C.F.R. §785.35.
- Between-job-site travel during the day is paid. §785.38.
- Special one-day assignment to another city: pay the time that exceeds the normal commute. §785.37.
- Overnight travel: travel that cuts across normal working hours is paid (even on rest days). Passenger travel outside those hours can be unpaid; driving is paid. §785.39.
- Continuous workday rule: once principal activity starts (e.g., tool/PPE pickup integral to work), later travel is paid. IBP v. Alvarez.
- Work performed while traveling (emails, reports) is always paid. §785.41.
- Make it auditable: define benchmarks (normal commute), log itinerary, and train supervisors.
FAQ
1) Is driving a company vehicle from home to the regular yard paid?
Usually no—still an ordinary commute. It becomes paid only if employer-required work occurs en route (deliveries, inspections, pickups integral to the job) or if restrictions materially convert the trip into duty time.
2) How do I compute pay for a one-day trip to a distant site?
Pay the portion that exceeds the employee’s normal commute each way. Keep the benchmark documented (e.g., 30-minute typical commute); the excess counts toward overtime.
3) If employees report to a shop to load tools, when does the clock start?
When they begin the integral and indispensable activity (loading required tools/PPE). After that, travel from the shop to the job site is within the continuous workday and is paid.
4) Is airport time paid on an overnight trip?
If it occurs during the employee’s normal work hours, yes. Long waits outside those hours can be unpaid unless the employee is required to perform duties.
5) Do we pay for weekend flights?
Yes, to the extent the flight time falls within the employee’s usual weekday work hours (e.g., Sun 1–5 PM when the schedule is Mon–Fri 9–5 ⇒ pay 1–5 PM). Work performed outside those hours is also paid.
6) What if an employee answers emails during the commute?
Directing or knowingly permitting work during a commute converts that time to compensable minutes. Discourage work while commuting and capture any unavoidable work in timesheets.
7) Are call-back emergencies from home compensable?
Travel for unscheduled call-backs is commonly treated as paid (or covered by call-out minimums by policy/CBA). Document start/return times and apply consistently.
Operational Legal Backbone — Core Authorities & Takeaways
- FLSA / Portal-to-Portal Act (29 U.S.C. §254) — excludes ordinary home-to-work commuting and certain preliminary/postliminary activities.
- 29 C.F.R. Part 785 — travel rules:
- §785.35 ordinary home-to-work travel (unpaid).
- §785.37 special one-day assignment (pay excess over normal commute).
- §785.38 travel during the workday (paid).
- §785.39 overnight travel (paid when cutting across normal hours; driving paid).
- §785.41 working while traveling (always paid).
- Continuous workday doctrine: IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez, 546 U.S. 21 — time between first and last principal activities is compensable.
- Postliminary limits: Integrity Staffing v. Busk, 574 U.S. 27 — activities not integral/indispensable remain non-compensable.
- DOL FOH Ch. 31c — practical illustrations for field audits (benchmarks for commute, passenger vs. driver).
Final considerations
Write a travel-pay SOP that defines regular vs. temporary worksites, establishes a normal-commute baseline, and gives examples for one-day and overnight trips. Start the clock at the first principal activity, pay inter-site shuttling, and require timekeeping for any work performed while traveling. Consistency, logs, and supervisor training are your best defenses in audits and disputes.
Important notice: This content is educational and does not substitute personalized legal advice. Travel-time compensability can vary by circuit precedent, CBA, public-sector rules, and specific facts. Consult qualified counsel before changing payroll practices and keep written justifications and timekeeping records.