New Jersey Employers Must Pay Service Technicians For Time Spent Travelling Between Home and Customer Sites
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Employers in New Jersey must pay service/field technicians for time spent traveling between their homes and customers where the technicians must transport tools, equipment, parts, or products and/or drive a specialized work truck. Employers who fail to pay overtime wages for such time may owe triple damages to the technicians under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law. If you worked as a field/service technician in New Jersey during the last six years and did not receive wages for the time you spent driving to your first customer/location or the time you spent driving home from your last customer/location, feel free to call us today to discuss whether your employer violated your rights under New Jersey law.
New Jersey law requires employers to pay employees overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Despite this requirement, some companies refuse to pay service/field technicians for the time they spend driving between their homes and their first and last customer sites. These companies incorrectly consider this time “commuting time” and argue that such time doesn’t qualify as “hours worked” under New Jersey law. However, if a company requires an employee to transport tools, equipment, parts, products, etc. between their homes and customer locations, the time spent transporting such things are hours worked under the law.
Example: A service technician drives an average of 30 unpaid minutes to and from their home each workday transporting parts needed to perform their duties and they already otherwise work more than 40 hours. If the technician made $20 per hour, the 5 hours of unpaid time per week should be paid at an overtime rate of $30 per hour or $150 per week. With liquidated damages of 200%, the technician would have damages of $450 per week.
If you worked as a service/field technician or in a similar position in New Jersey and would like to discuss whether your employer paid you for all hours worked, please contact us today or complete the form below to request a free and confidential consultation. If we determine that you have a valid claim and you choose to proceed, there will be no out-of-pocket costs or fees. Our firm handles cases on a fully contingent basis and will seek reimbursement for fees and costs only from the recovery obtained. If there is no recovery or judgment in your favor, Swartz Swidler, LLC will not seek any fees or costs from you.
Submit Your Information Below for a Free and Confidential Consultation. You may also call us at 856-685-7420 and ask for partners Matthew Miller or Manali Arora or email Matt Miller (mmiller@swartz-legal.com).