Are You Entitled To Compensation For Travel Time?
A federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that employers pay overtime to their statutory employees for all of the time that they work in a week beyond 40 hours. The employees must receive compensation for the excess hours that they work beyond 40 at a rate of one-and-one-half times their normal hourly rates.
Employers must count certain hours that the employees spend traveling for work as work time when determining the hours that the employees have worked for calculations of overtime and regular pay. An amendment to the FLSA, the Portal-to-Portal Act was meant to clarify the issue of compensation for travel time. Collective bargaining agreements, employment contracts and customs and practices may also impact your right to receive travel time pay. If you have questions about your compensable travel time, the attorneys at Swartz Swidler may be able to answer them for you.
Paid vs. unpaid travel time
Under the Portal-to-Portal Act, you are not able to recover travel time compensation for the time that you spend commuting to and from your regular workplace. However, the time that you spend during your workday traveling between your job sites must be counted as part of the time that you work.
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Your employer may have to pay travel time to you if you are required to go to a different location other than your regular workplace in order to work, pick up or drop off supplies or tools or to receive instructions. While your employer must compensate you for the time that you spend traveling to and from a secondary work assignment location, your normal time spent commuting can be subtracted from your total number of hours. For instance, if you are required to drive one hour to a secondary work site when your normal commute takes you 20 minutes, you will be entitled to receive compensation for the 40 additional minutes that you spend traveling.
If you leave work for the day and are called back for an emergency that happens outside of your normal working hours, you must be paid for the time that you spend driving to the site of the emergency. In addition, there are other situations in which your time spent traveling may entitle you to travel time compensation.
Traveling away from your home
If you are required to travel for your job and to stay overnight, you must be compensated for the regular hours that you work during the week, some of your travel time and the extra hours on days that you don’t normally work. This means that your travel time that takes place during your normal work hours counts as compensable time. If you spend time traveling on non-working days such as Saturday or Sunday, that time is also compensable. For example, if you have an out-of-town work conference that is scheduled for Monday morning, and you are forced to travel there on Sunday, the time that you spend traveling on Sunday is compensable.
The time that you spend traveling outside of your regular working hours while you are a passenger on a plane, train or in a car will not be considered to be a part of your compensable work time unless you are spending time working while you are a passenger. If you are required to drive by your employer instead of being a passenger, your driving time will count as compensable time even if it happens outside of the normal hours that you work.
What to do if your employer doesn’t compensate you for your compensable travel time
If your employer has violated your wage or overtime requirements, you have the right to file an action to recover the back wages that you should have been paid. In addition, you may also recover an amount that is equal to your back wages in liquidated damages along with your court costs and attorney’s fees.
Your employer is prohibited from retaliating against you for filing a wage and hour complaint or for participating in the investigation of a complaint that has been filed by another employee. If you believe that your employer has failed to appropriately pay you for your compensable travel time, contact the experienced lawyers at Swartz Swidler to schedule your consultation.
Most Frequently Asked Question: Do I Have A Case?
While it is true that every case is different, The law is pretty clear in most cases. The best way to determine if you have a case is to contact one of our attorneys. For more information check out the FAQ below or visit our FAQ Page
Most Frequently Asked Question:
Do I Have A Case?
While it is true that every case is different, The law is pretty clear in most cases. The best way to determine if you have a case is contact one of our attorneys. For more information on a just a few scenarios checkout the flip box FAQ below or visit our FAQ Page.
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Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: (215) 995-2733
Our Locations
Haddonfield Headquarters
9 Tanner Street, Ste. 101
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
Phone: (856) 685-7420
Fax: (856) 685-7417
Philadelphia Satellite Office
123 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: (215) 995-2733