Q&A: FLSA and Travel

This Q&A is provided to address common questions HR Services consultants receive about the compensability of travel time. 

Understanding when to pay a nonexempt employee for time spent traveling is a common compliance issue that employers wrestle with.

Questions and Answers

Q: If a nonexempt employee is riding with someone to a conference, is travel time outside of normal work hours compensable?

A: For overnight trips, travel time is not compensable when traveling as a passenger outside of normal work hours. If the traveling occurs during normal working hours, the time is compensable, even if it occurs during nonworking days (Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday). All time spent traveling as part of a one-day work assignment or training in another location is compensable, even if this time occurs outside the normal work schedule. However, time spent traveling from home to the local airport, bus depot, mass transit center, or other point of departure is not compensable.

Q: If a nonexempt employee drives to their hotel after regular work hours the evening before an event, is that drive time is compensable?

A: If the nonexempt employee is driving the car, the time is compensable.

Q: Our maintenance director is requiring staff to clock out when driving between job sites. Is this allowable?

A: No. Travel that is an integral part of the employee’s job, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, is compensable. However, the employee’s time spent traveling from home to the first job site does not need to be compensated.

Q: I have a staff member who usually works at one campus, but she’ll be working at a different campus today. Do I need to pay her for commuting to the other campus?

A: The Portal-to-Portal Act excludes the employee’s time getting to and from work as compensable time.

Q: One of our instructional aides is attending a training at another city for one day. Do we need to compensate her for the time spent traveling to and from the training?

A: All time spent traveling as part of a one-day work assignment or training in another location is compensable even if this time occurs outside the normal work schedule. However, time spent traveling from home to the local airport, bus depot, mass transit center, or other point of departure is not compensable.

Additional Resources

TASB HR Services offers several resources related to the FLSA.

Training opportunities include:

• Online course: Understanding the Fair Labor Standards Act available in the TASB Online Learning Center
• Statewide virtual training: Understanding Wage and Hour Law, May 8-9, 2024
• Recorded webinars:
  • Calculating Overtime for Nonexempt Employees
  • Child Labor Laws and Student Workers
  • Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the PUMP Act
  • Top 10 FLSA Mistakes to Avoid

Other helpful resources include:

• HRX articles: Search the HRX for “FLSA” using the search bar in the upper right corner of the page
• HR Services’ book: The Administrator’s Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act