Travel Time Pay: When Your Commute Actually Counts as Work

Your daily commute is generally your own time, not paid work time. But many workers travel well beyond a simple drive to the office: service technicians moving between customer sites, oil field workers driving hours to remote wells, construction crews dispatched from a central yard, or home health aides driving between patient homes. Federal law may require some of that time to be paid, and workers who go unpaid can lose thousands of dollars over time. Here’s what the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) says about travel time pay, when it applies, and what you could recover if your employer got it wrong.

The Basic Rule: Commuting Is Generally Unpaid

A 1947 federal law called the Portal-to-Portal Act generally makes ordinary commuting unpaid, so a worker’s daily drive to and from the regular workplace typically doesn’t count as paid work, even if it’s long. But the Act has limits: it doesn’t eliminate pay for all travel, and several categories may still qualify as paid work.

When Travel Time May Count as Paid Work

Several categories of travel may qualify as paid work under federal regulations:

• Travel between job sites during the day. A technician driving between customer stops, a home health aide traveling between patient visits, or a crew moving between job sites at the employer’s direction should typically be paid for that travel.
• Travel to a distant special work site. When an employer sends a crew to a one-day assignment far from the normal shop, the extra travel beyond the ordinary commute may count as paid work.
• Overnight business travel during work hours. If travel overlaps with a worker’s regular schedule, for example between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., that time may be paid, whether or not it’s a workday and whether the worker is driving or riding as a passenger.
• Required stops for equipment or materials. When an employer requires a stop to pick up tools, materials, or a vehicle before reaching the job site, travel from that pickup point onward may be paid work.
• Driving other workers. Employees who drive coworkers or equipment to job sites in a company vehicle may be owed pay for that time, even during hours that would otherwise be commuting.

When Travel Time Generally Does Not Count

Some travel generally stays unpaid: the ordinary commute from home to the regular workplace, voluntary use of a company vehicle within your normal commuting area, and overnight travel that falls entirely outside your regular working hours when you’re a passenger. If you actually perform work during that time, though, it may still be paid.

How Overtime Interacts with Travel Time

When travel time counts as paid work, it also counts toward the 40-hour workweek and can trigger overtime at time-and-a-half. Employers generally can’t pay a lower rate for travel unless they’ve set one in advance, and even then, overtime pay may need to reflect a weighted average of the rates paid.

Industries Where Travel Time Claims Are Common

These industries generate a disproportionate share of travel time claims: oil and gas field services, construction, service technicians (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cable), home health, delivery driving, utility work, outside sales, and janitorial services. None of these automatically produces a claim, but each is a common starting point.

What You May Be Able to Recover

Workers who prevail may recover back wages, liquidated damages equal to those wages (effectively doubling the recovery), attorney’s fees, court costs, and interest where applicable. State laws may add further remedies, and because these claims often affect whole crews under the same pay policy, they may suit collective or class actions. Still, recovery depends on the specific facts, and past outcomes don’t guarantee future results.

Time Limits

Workers generally have two years to file a federal FLSA claim, or three for willful violations. Some states allow longer windows, New York generally allows six years, California typically three to four, while Texas requires state Payday Law claims within 180 days, though FLSA deadlines still apply separately.

What to Do If You Suspect Unpaid Travel Time

• Log your travel. Note when you leave and arrive each day, and save GPS records, vehicle logs, or mileage reports.
• Save your assignments. Keep dispatch records, work orders, and any texts or emails directing your travel.
• Review your pay stubs. Check whether your employer pays a lower rate for travel or excludes it from your hours.
• Talk to co-workers. These claims often affect entire crews or routes, and a group claim may be stronger than an individual one.
• Consult an attorney. Travel time cases involve specific regulations, and many wage cases proceed on contingency, so you generally pay no fees unless the case recovers money.

Your Commute May Be Unpaid. The Rest of Your Travel Often Is Not.

Ordinary commuting is generally unpaid, but federal law may still require pay for travel between job sites, travel to distant work sites, and overnight travel during regular hours. Whether you have a valid claim depends on your job’s facts.

Josephson Dunlap, Lawyers for the Workers®, represents employees nationwide in wage and hour matters, including travel time and off-the-clock claims. We offer confidential case evaluations at no cost.