Compensation of Travel Time When Traveling on Business
Introduction
Non-exempt employees (“employees”) are not entitled to compensation for time spent traveling between their homes and local work sites. Such travel is considered ordinary “home-to-work” travel. However, when employees are required to travel for business purposes, as opposed to normal “home to work” commuting, they must be compensated in accordance with the following guidelines:
Travel Not Involving An Overnight Stay (a one day special assignment in another city)
When employees are required to travel to another city and return on the same day, time spent traveling is considered hours worked and must be paid. However, time allotted for meal periods and time spent traveling between the employees’ homes and the airport/train/bus terminal is not considered hours worked and need not be paid.
When employees are required to travel between different worksites during a single work day, time spent traveling between those work sites is considered hours worked and must be paid.
Example: An RIT employee flies to New York City to attend a one-day meeting and returns home the same day. The employee should be compensated for the time spent traveling to and from the meeting, excluding meal periods and time spent traveling between the employee’s home and the Rochester airport.
Travel Away From The Home Community Involving An Overnight Stay
When travel involves an overnight stay in another city, time spent traveling during the employees’ normal working hours on normal work days for a specific week is considered hours worked and must be paid. Time spent traveling during normal working hours outside normal workdays for a specific week is also considered hours worked and must be paid. Regular meal period time is not counted.
Example: An RIT employee is regularly scheduled to work Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The employee is required to fly to Washington D.C. for a two-day conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. The employee should be compensated for time spent traveling between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on those days. However, the employee need not be compensated for any time spent traveling to the conference before 9 a.m., nor for any time spent traveling home after 5 p.m.
Compensation and Overtime
All employees who are compensated for travel time in connection with any of the above scenarios shall be paid at their normal wage rate. If such travel time causes the employee to work over 40 hours in a work week, the employee shall be paid at their overtime wage rate.
