Travel Time Issues Under The FLSA: An Overview

When is travel time compensable?  The focus is on whether an employee is engaged in travel as part of the employee's principal activity or for the benefit of the employer.

The Basic Rules

• Basic Rule #1:  Normal travel from home to work is not work time. This is true whether the employee works at a fixed location or at different job sites.
• Basic Rule #2:  If an employee reports to a central location to pick up equipment before proceeding to his or her assigned work site, the time spent traveling to the central location is not work time. The time spent traveling to the assigned work site is work time. There is, however, an exception to this rule – the meeting place "concept."