Is travel time between job sites paid?

Is travel between job sites paid under federal law?

Yes. Time spent traveling as part of the day's work, such as driving from one job site to another, is hours worked under the FLSA, "regardless of contract, custom, or practice" (29 CFR 785.38). It counts toward the 40 hours that trigger overtime, and it has to be paid at least minimum wage.

The Department of Labor's own summary puts it the same way: travel from job site to job site during the workday is work time and must be counted as hours worked (DOL Fact Sheet 22). Supply house runs in the middle of the day fall under the same rule, because the worker is traveling for the job between two points of work.

Usually paid

Site to site, shop to site after reporting there, site back to the shop when the worker must return a truck or tools, mid-day supply runs.

Usually not paid

Home to the first place of work and home from the last one, when it is an ordinary commute.

Is the drive from home to the first job site paid?

Usually not. Normal travel from home to work is not worktime, "whether he works at a fixed location or at different job sites" (29 CFR 785.35). A construction worker who drives from home to whichever jobsite is active that week is commuting, even though the destination changes.

The Portal-to-Portal Act is the reason. It relieves employers of minimum wage and overtime liability for traveling to and from the actual place of performance of the principal activities, and for activities before and after the workday (29 U.S.C. 254(a)).

• Company trucks. Since a 1996 amendment, driving an employer's vehicle to and from work is not a principal activity when the trip is within the normal commuting area and the employer and employee (or their union) have agreed to it.
• Contracts and custom. Travel that would otherwise be unpaid becomes compensable if a contract or an established custom makes it so (29 U.S.C. 254(b)). Collective bargaining agreements often do.
• Paying it anyway. The regulations say ordinary home-to-work travel is not hours worked even if the employer agrees to pay for it (29 CFR 785.34), so a voluntary commute allowance does not by itself add hours toward overtime. Check any agreement and state law before relying on that.

Does a shop start change what is paid?

Yes. If a worker is required to report to the shop or another meeting place to pick up tools, a truck or the day's instructions, the workday starts there, and the drive from the shop to the jobsite is work time (29 CFR 785.38). The drive from home to the shop is still the commute.

The end of the day works the same way in reverse. The regulation's own example: a worker who finishes at 5 p.m., is sent to another job until 8 p.m. and must return to the employer's premises by 9 p.m. is working the whole time. If the worker goes straight home from the last job instead, the trip home is ordinary commuting.

Worked example: a shop start and two jobsites

A plumber must report to the shop at 6:00 AM to load the truck and pick up the day's tickets, works two jobsites, and must bring the truck back. Lunch is a 30-minute break with no duties, which is not worktime (29 CFR 785.19).

Is travel to a one-day job in another city paid?

Yes, apart from the normal commute. When a worker who normally reports to one place is sent for the day to a job in another city, the trip is not ordinary commuting and counts as work (29 CFR 785.37). The employer may deduct the time the worker would normally spend commuting to the regular work site, and a usual meal period (DOL Fact Sheet 22).

Is overnight travel paid?

Partly. Travel that keeps a worker away from home overnight is worktime when it cuts across the worker's normal working hours, including the same hours on days off such as a Sunday. As an enforcement policy, the DOL does not count time spent as a passenger outside regular working hours (29 CFR 785.39). Anyone required to drive is working, wherever the hours fall (29 CFR 785.41).

Emergency call-outs are a separate case. A worker called back from home after hours to travel a long distance to an emergency job is working for the whole trip (29 CFR 785.36).

Do state laws treat travel time differently?

Some do, and the stricter rule applies. California is the most cited example. Its supreme court declined to follow the federal Portal-to-Portal approach and held that travel an employer requires and controls is hours worked, while an ordinary commute is not (Morillion v. Royal Packing Co. (2000) 22 Cal.4th 575).

California's Labor Commissioner has applied that to construction directly in an opinion letter (DLSE 2003.04.22). The letter is guidance from 2003 and is not binding on courts, but it shows how the agency reasons:

• A framing carpenter who routinely reports to whatever jobsite is active, within a reasonable distance, is commuting and is not paid for the drive. Travel the employer requires during the day is paid.
• A finish carpenter based at the shop who is sent to install cabinets at a jobsite is paid the extra travel, measured as the difference between the normal commute to the shop and the trip to the site.
• A distant jobsite the employer sends workers to is compensable, measured the same way: the time beyond the normal commute.
• Travel while required to deliver equipment, goods or materials for the employer is compensable however long it is.

What should a contractor's travel time policy cover?

A written policy that matches how crews actually move prevents most disputes. At minimum it should answer these questions.

• Where each worker reports each day: the shop, a yard, or the jobsite directly.
• Whether trucks go home at night, and the written agreement that covers it.
• That travel between jobsites and to supply houses during the day is paid and counts toward overtime.
• Whether returning trucks or tools to the shop at day's end is required.
• How out-of-town and overnight travel is paid, including who drives.
• Any travel pay terms in a union agreement or prevailing wage contract.
• State rules for every state you work in, especially daily overtime states.
• How travel is recorded, so payroll does not depend on memory at the end of the week.

For a template-level walkthrough, see drive time policy for contractors.

How ZeroBadge handles this

ZeroBadge records the travel; your policy decides what is paid. Each worker's badge powers on to start the shift and off to end it, and every minute in between is classified as on site, in transit or other, and allocated to a jobsite, the shop or a supplier stop. A move between sites stays one shift, so drive time between jobs shows as its own transit line instead of disappearing into the next job.

Before approving the week, a manager can see transit time by day alongside the exceptions list, then approved hours are sent to your payroll provider. ZeroBadge does not decide which travel is compensable under federal or state law. See drive time tracking.