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Guidelines for Paying Hourly Staff for Out of Town Travel Under the Fair Labor Standards Act

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Tax Deductions for Traveling for a Sole Proprietorship

Labor laws & salaried employees, federal labor laws on time & attendance.

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The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that governs labor practices. Hourly employees are covered by this law and generally must be paid for out-of-town travel. Many businesses struggle to understand what counts as travel and which hours must be paid. Familiarity with the FLSA can save your business money; violation of this law can subject your company to hefty fines and lawsuits.

Types of Travel Time

Traveling to and from a work site is not classified as travel time under the FLSA, and employers are not required to pay for it. However, travel during working hours – including travel to another work site, driving to meet a client and similar workday travel – must be paid at the employee's normal hourly rate under FLSA.

Business Trips

Business trips to other states or cities must be paid. Travel to and from the airport does not have to be paid; this travel is analogous to travel to and from work.

However, time spent waiting for the plane, in the plane and renting a car or waiting for a cab must be covered at the employee's normal hourly rate. Employers must also pay for time spent working, including attending seminars and meeting with clients. Employers do not have to pay for time spent sleeping, in the hotel or at lunch.

Overtime Pay Under the FLSA

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employees be compensated at one and a half times their normal hourly wage for every hour worked in excess of a 40 hours in a workweek. Employees often incur overtime on business trips and must be compensated for this time. You can structure your employees' work week however you wish so long as it is a seven-day week. For example, if your workweek is Monday through Sunday and your employee works 50 hours in this time, you must compensate her for 40 hours at her normal rate and 10 hours at one and a half times her normal rate.

Reimbursement for Business Expenses

The FLSA does not require that employers reimburse employees for travel expenses such as meals and lodging. However, most employers reimburse for these expenses as a matter of course, and failing to do so can cause high turnover rates. Your employees can use travel expenses as a tax deduction if you do not compensate them; if you do, you may be able to deduct these expenses. Some states, including California, have additional laws mandating that employers cover travel expenses.

Exemptions from FLSA Rules

Not all employees are covered under the FLSA, but all hourly employees are. Salaried employees who engage in professional or executive functions and who make more than $455 per week are exempt from FLSA rules as February 2018. However, this salary threshold is subject to change with the FLSA updates currently in progress.

• FLSA Home Page: Coverage Under the FLSA
• U.S. Department of Labor: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as Amended
• Justia.com: Fair Labor Standards Act 29 C.F.R. PART 785—Hours Worked
• U.S. Department of Labor: Travel Time
• U.S. Department of Labor: Overtime Pay
• ADP: ‘Do I Have to Reimburse My Employees for That?’ and Other FAQs
• U.S. Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer & Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Van Thompson is an attorney and writer. A former martial arts instructor, he holds bachelor's degrees in music and computer science from Westchester University, and a juris doctor from Georgia State University. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including a 2009 CALI Legal Writing Award.

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When Do Employers Have to Pay Employees for Travel Time?

Deanna deBara

For some small businesses, traveling to meet clients, make sales, and manage day-to-day activities is a must. For others, traveling is valuable for attending conferences, participating in networking events, or undergoing specialized training.

But if it's your employees doing the traveling, do you need to pay them for that time? Whatever your preferences are as a small business owner, the  legal  answer is: that depends.

Let's explore when you need to provide travel time pay for hourly employees, which employees are entitled to that pay, and, if they are entitled, how much you'll need to pay them. 

Who Is Entitled to Travel Pay?

All  non-exempt employees  are entitled to travel pay during normal work hours and when they are actively working outside of those hours. They aren't entitled to travel pay for doing their typical commute, according to the  Fair Labor Standards Act  (FLSA).

Non-exempt employees are typically paid an  hourly wage  and are paid less than $684 per week or $35,568 per year. 

These rules don't apply to exempt employees, and therefore it's up to you whether you want to pay them to travel.

What's more—your state may have some extra rules, so make sure to check your state's Department of Labor or Wage and Hour Division website.

When Do You Have to Provide Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees?

But when, exactly, are these employees paid to travel? Compensable work time needs to be paid when employees travel:

• Locally: You need to pay employees when they travel locally as part of their regular duties (for example, from your office to a supply store). And if that travel happens outside of the employee's regular workday hours (even if they're only waiting to travel, like sitting at a bus stop or train station)? You still need to pay.
• Between worksites: Employees get travel pay when traveling between worksites. For example, a courier who transports materials between different job sites must be paid for the time spent traveling. Similarly, plumbers who travel between customers' homes are eligible for travel pay.
• For special one-day assignments: You must provide travel pay for hourly employees who travel out of town, even if they return home at the end of the workday—though you can deduct the employee's normal commute time from the total payment. For example, let's say an employee spends a total of two hours traveling to and from a work conference (which takes place during normal working hours). Because her typical daily commute takes 30 minutes, you would only need to pay for 1.5 hours of traveling (in addition to regular hourly wages).
• Overnight: Employees traveling overnight are due travel pay during their regular working hours and any time they spend working outside of those regular hours (for example, participating in late-night conference calls while on a train). You also need to pay employees for traveling during their regular working hours, even on non-working days, like weekends, holidays, or their normal days off.

Bonus tip : The best way to track travel time for your employees? Time tracking software like  Hourly . Workers clock in right from their phones, and the platform automatically tracks their location, hours and what project they're working on—which you can see in real-time. Another perk? You can run payroll with the click of a button.

How Much Do You Have to Pay Employees for Travel Time?

Employees traveling for work need to be paid at least the minimum wage, but they can be paid more or less than their normal pay rate.  

If you want to pay a different rate than an employee's hourly wage, you'll need to:

• Tell the employee they will be paid a different rate before they begin their trip.
• Make sure the hourly rate for travel pay doesn't cause the employee's total pay for all workable hours to  fall below minimum wage  (state, local or federal—whichever is highest) or result in incorrect overtime pay.
• Ensure that you're not violating their employment contract.

This gives you the flexibility to offer a higher rate of pay as an incentive for traveling outside of regular business hours—or, if you decide to pay less than their typical rate (but still minimum wage or above!), it can help make sure that paying for travel won't interrupt your cash flow or cause other financial concerns for your company.

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When Do You NOT Have to Provide Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees?

Exempt employees—like outside salespeople, executives, managers, administrators, and even IT personnel—aren't entitled to travel pay. And non-exempt workers? They're  not eligible for travel pay  when they are:

• Commuting: An employee's commute—the time spent driving from their home to work (and from work to home)—doesn't qualify as travel time. This also includes the time spent driving from accommodations/lodging (like a hotel) to a work location, like a client's office or conference center.
• On break or during personal time : Non-exempt employees aren't entitled to travel pay during breaks (including meal periods and time spent sleeping) or when they can spend their time how they see fit. In other words, you don't need to pay for traveling during the time an employee can go shopping, sightseeing, or out to eat.
• Away from work and not working : Employees on overnight travel or business trips don't need to be paid outside of regular working hours  unless  they're working during that time period. For example, an employee who regularly works 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday only needs to be paid for traveling on a Saturday if they travel during their normal working hours (i.e., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.)—unless they're working  outside  of those hours too (like answering customer support emails or counting inventory).
• A passenger: You don't need to pay for travel when an employee is a passenger (in any sort of vehicle) and isn't doing work outside of regular work hours. The only exceptions occur when you  require  an employee to drive the vehicle or be actively engaged in working (like riding to a job site while handling customer calls or riding as a passenger in a client's vehicle).
• Choosing to drive themselves : If you offer to pay for an employee's travel method (like airfare, a bus ticket, or a train ticket) and the employee requests to drive instead, the employee is only entitled to travel pay while driving during their regular work hours. In other words, if an employee requests to drive themselves vs. taking public transit, you don't need to pay for travel outside of the employee's regular shift.

In other words, a non-exempt employee  isn't entitled to travel pay  unless they are driving, traveling during their normal working hours, or actively working while traveling.

Does Travel Time Count Towards Overtime?

Yes, travel time counts toward overtime, and you'd owe them 1.5 times their regular rate for any hours worked over 40 while they're traveling.

What if your pay rate for traveling is different from an employee's regular wages? Then it gets a little more complicated. 

In that case, you need to use the weighted average of the two overtime rates to get their final pay. Here's an example: 

Let's imagine one of your employees is pulling a 40-hour week at the office. Their rate? $15 per hour. So that gives them $600 for their regular workweek (that's 40 hours multiplied by $15 per hour). Now, during that same week, they also spent 8 hours traveling as overtime, for which you're paying them $11.25 per hour. This gives them an extra $90 (which is 8 hours multiplied by $11.25 per hour).

Add these together, and their total straight-time pay for the week is $690.

Now, to figure out their average rate for the week (including travel time and regular office time), you need to divide this total pay by their total hours worked. In this case, it's 48 hours in total (40 regular hours plus 8 overtime hours). So, $690 divided by 48 hours gives you a weighted average rate of $14.375 per hour.

But they've already been paid for all 48 hours at their respective rates, right? For the 8 hours of overtime, what you owe them is an extra half of that weighted average rate. That's what we call the "overtime premium." Half of $14.375 is about $7.19. So, the overtime pay would be 8 hours (overtime) times $7.19, which comes out to $57.52.

To get their final paycheck, you add this overtime pay to their straight-time pay. So, $690 (straight-time pay) plus $57.52 (overtime pay) equals $747.52. As a business owner, using the weighted average method to calculate the overtime rate, you'd be paying out $747.52 for this employee's week of work, including their overtime.

Additionally, if you pay for travel time that isn't  required  to be paid (like commuting), you  can't count them as hours worked  for overtime purposes.

Travel Time Pay Best Practices

Handling travel pay can be complex and difficult at first. But it doesn't have to be! Use these best practices to simplify paying your employees for working on the go.

Create a Travel Policy

If your small business sends employees to different locations, you need to establish a written travel policy—and include it in your employee handbook. 

Your travel policy should outline which situations result in compensable travel time (like attending conferences or visiting different job sites), as well as any exclusions where employees won't be compensated (like an employee's regular commute or traveling as a passenger on non-working days).

If you pay a different hourly rate for time spent traveling, make sure to include it in your policy. Then, have employees sign the policy to acknowledge they understand it and agree to its terms—and then add the signed document to their employee file.

Track Hours Traveled

As a small business owner, you need to track employee travel time to follow  labor laws  and make sure their paychecks are accurate. 

Though you can ask employees to record and document the time they spend traveling—which can help you make sure your records are accurate—the responsibility for doing so is ultimately on you.

Pay for or Reimburse Travel Expenses

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) doesn't require you to pay for your employee's travel expenses.

Still, if you're sending your employees out of town, you  should  pay for the cost of travel—like tickets and lodging. 

If you don't, your employees are almost guaranteed to get frustrated that they have to pay for expenses out of pocket—and that frustration could lead to issues with employee engagement and retention.

When writing your travel policy, outline which travel expenses your company covers. If you expect employees to front some or all of the travel expenses, detail your procedure for requesting reimbursement and how to track expenses (like mileage or airfare).

You might also want to provide some form of  per diem  or stipend that helps employees pay for small travel expenses, like food. 

This can either be an allowance per meal period (like $15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch, and $40 for dinner) or a specific amount that the employee can use throughout the trip (like $50 per day or $150 for the weekend). Have your employees save and submit their receipts to avoid taxation. You can also consider a company card to lessen the burden on your team's bank account.

Check With Your State's Laws

In addition to federal law, some state laws apply additional regulations to travel time. This means rules can vary based on the state you operate in. For example,  compensable work time  in California includes riding as a passenger in a vehicle when traveling for work.

But which set of employment laws should you follow? You should apply the set of rules that provide the highest payment to your employees. So, if your state regulations specify that certain activities qualify as compensable—even if the FLSA does not—you need to pay for time spent traveling.

(For guidance about your state's specific laws and guidelines, contact your  state's Department of Labor  and local  Wage and Hour Division .)

FAQs About Travel Time Pay for Hourly Employees

Do remote/hybrid workers qualify for travel pay.

A  remote or hybrid worker  qualifies for travel pay when you require them to travel to your place of business or another venue (like a conference hall, training facility, or client location) and they:

• Live far away from the regular worksite (requiring an overnight stay or significant travel time)
• Are only expected to work on-site by request or on a day they're not normally required to be on-site

However, remote/hybrid workers  aren't  entitled to travel pay when:

• Your policy specifies that both an employee's home/remote office and your office are considered primary work locations
• They are expected to work on-location on certain days
• The time spent traveling to the office is considered an employee's commute (even if they are a remote or hybrid worker)

Do employees who drive/travel as part of their job qualify for travel pay?

The  FLSA requires  you to pay employees their regular hourly wages when they are driving or traveling as part of their job responsibilities. For example, bus or delivery drivers should be paid their regular wages while on the job.

Compensating Your Employees for Traveling Doesn't Need to Be Difficult

Traveling for business can take a toll—both on the road and off. Paying travel time for hourly employees can incentivize them to hit the road when necessary and make up for the time they spend away from their families and lives. 

Once you've determined which employees qualify for travel time pay, implement a clear travel policy (that adheres to state and federal law) and use management tools (like  Hourly !) to maintain accurate records and compensate your employees for time spent traveling.

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Under the FLSA, when must nonexempt employees be paid for travel time?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations require employers to pay for travel time in some circumstances. Generally, time spent traveling is compensable, unless it is normal home-to-work commute time, or when travel requires an overnight stay and the time spent traveling as a passenger falls outside of the employee's normal work hours.

When pay is required, the time spent traveling is considered hours worked and must be included when determining overtime pay obligations. 

Home-to-work travel. Normal commuting time to an employee's regular worksite is not treated as hours worked under the FLSA.

Home to work on a special one-day assignment in another city . When an employee must travel out of town for work but returns home the same day, all the time spent traveling during the day is compensable, regardless of the employee's regular work hours. However, an employer may deduct the time the employee would have spent commuting to his or her regular work location.

Travel that is all in a day's work. Time spent traveling to and from different worksites during the day is work time and must be paid.

Travel away from home. When travel requires an overnight stay, any time traveling as a passenger that falls within the employee's normal work hours is compensable, regardless of what day of the week the travel takes place. Time spent traveling to an airport terminal or train station is considered commute time and is not treated as hours worked, but the time spent waiting at the terminal until arrival at the destination is compensable when it falls during normal work hours.

For example, if Meg normally works Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and she is required to travel by plane on a Sunday for business in another state, her travel time on Sunday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. is compensable.

So, if Meg arrives at the airport on Sunday at 3 p.m. and at her destination at 8 p.m., the employer is required to pay her only from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the hours that correspond with her normally scheduled work hours.

Alternatively, if Meg drives herself or others at the direction of the employer rather than traveling as a passenger, all the time spent driving is compensable work time, regardless of Meg's normal work hours.

Driving at the direction of the employer . When employees are required to drive themselves or others, all driving time is compensable. However, when an employee is traveling to an overnight stay and has the option to use public transportation (i.e., airplane, train, bus, etc.) but chooses to drive his or her own vehicle instead, the employer can either choose to pay for all time spent traveling or pay only the travel time that occurs during normal work hours, regardless of what day of the week the employee travels (CFR 785.40). If an employee volunteers to drive others in his or her own vehicle to the overnight stay, an employee's time could be unpaid for those travel hours outside the normal work hours.

Worked performed while traveling. An employee must be paid for any time he or she is performing work. This includes time spent working during travel as a passenger that would otherwise be non-compensable.

For example, Meg normally works Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. She arrives at the airport on Sunday at 3 p.m. and at her destination at 8 p.m. Generally, the employer is required to pay her only from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; however, if Meg works on a presentation during her flight until 6:30 p.m., her employer would need to pay her from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Some states have travel-time laws that are more generous than the federal FLSA.  

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What is considered compensable travel time pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is not always clear or intuitive to employers, even for those who usually have a good handle on wage and hour laws. This blog post hopefully will simplify the requirements set forth in the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) regulations and interpretive guidance to help clarify when employees must be paid for travel time.

Ordinary Home-to-Work Travel

Likely not a surprise for most employers, employees are not entitled to pay for time that they normally spend commuting between their homes and the work place.

And, keep in mind, this rule applies to employees who report to the same or different work sites.

If, however, a particular work site is well beyond the employee’s typical home-to-work commuting time, e.g. the employee lives five miles from his office, but is asked to commute 50 miles to an alternative work site for a discrete assignment, the employer should consider, for both legal and employee relations reasons, paying for such significantly longer commuting time.

Same Out-of-Town Day Travel

DOL regulations provide for a different rule for out-of-town travel – even if all of the travel and work is accomplished in one day. The regulations provide an example where an employee works in Washington, D.C. during the hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Assume the employee is asked to work on an assignment in New York City for one day, for which he must leave his house at 8:00 AM and arrives in New York City at 12:00 PM whereupon he starts to work. He completes the work at 3:00 PM, and arrives back in Washington, D.C. at 7:00 PM. How much, if any, should this employee be paid for traveling to New York?

The DOL takes the position that this travel cannot be considered normal (and non-compensable) home-to-work commuting, even if it is accomplished in one day. Rather, the DOL provides that such travel must be compensated because it is an integral part of the work to be performed. The regulations provide, however, that employers may deduct the time it took the employee to travel from his home to the train station, airport or bus depot, which is treated as the equivalent to normal home-to-work commuting time.

Travel That Is “All in a Day’s Work”

Employers are required to pay for all work-related travel time spent by employees throughout the course of the work day. This rule specifically applies to employees who travel as part of their principal activity from one job site to another.

Remember, however, that employers may still deduct normal home-to-work commuting, such as the time that an employee spends commuting from the last job site of the day to her home.

Overnight Out-of-Town Travel

Probably the most interesting and least intuitive travel time rule is overnight out-of-town travel. In these cases, the DOL requires employers to compensate employees for travel time that occurs during the employee’s normal work day.

For example, returning to our employee who works from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, he must be compensated for only his travel time that coincides with his normal work day.

What is more, this rule applies to any day of the week, even days on which the employee does not normally work. For example, an employee who typically works Mondays through Fridays, but travels for business during her normal working hours on a Saturday or Sunday must be paid for such travel time.

In addition, it is important to note that if an employee is offered public transportation, but requests to drive her own car instead, the employer may count as hours worked either the time spent driving the car or the time she would have had to count as hours worked during working hours if she had used public transportation.

Also, employers need not pay employees on out-of-town trips for their regular meal periods.

Lastly, employees must always be paid for any actual work they perform while traveling.

Other Considerations

Please keep in mind that this blog post addresses the legal requirements pertaining to travel time pay; however, employers may always pay for travel that does not necessarily require compensation pursuant to the FLSA and DOL regulations.

Also note that it is important to confirm whether the state or locality within which your traveling employees work does not have different, i.e. more rigorous, travel pay requirements than the FLSA. You should always consult your human resources specialist, internal or external counsel to make sure you are in full compliance with not only federal, but also state and local law requirements.

Lastly, it is always the best practice to provide clear guidelines to your employees in your employee handbook or as a standalone policy so there is no confusion on anyone’s part as to when employees should be compensated for travel time.

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Rules of the road: Travel time pay for hourly employees

When to pay nonexempt workers for travel locally or on overnight trips baffles many employers. Mistakes can spark anything from mild complaints to class-action lawsuits—a black eye for you either way.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has rules on travel time pay for hourly employees. The best way to decipher them is using a case study.

Home-to-work travel

Let’s say Robert Smith is a nonexempt employee who sometimes travels for work. It’s clear that you don’t need to pay for his commute to work; the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 covers that.

But suppose you ask Robert to pick up some company documents along the way to work. In that case, you’d pay him from the time he picks up the documents. The law says that if the travel is for the company’s benefit, it is compensable. If it is purely commuting, it’s not.

Working at different locations

The U.S. Department of Labor says travel time spent by employees as part of their principal activity, such as travel among job sites during the workday, is considered “work time” and must be paid.

For example, say Robert reports to headquarters before making his rounds to visit other company locations. In that case, the commute to headquarters is commuting time, but all travel from headquarters until his last stop is paid time.

Time from the last stop to home is unpaid commuting time. Any travel that is a regular part of the employee’s job is paid time.

Out-of-town day trips

Generally, time spent traveling to and returning from the other city is work time. You can exclude the employee’s regular commuting time and meal breaks.

For example, say Robert drives to the airport and takes a 6 am flight to a seminar in Chicago. He arrives at 8:30 am and takes a cab to the seminar. The seminar runs from 9 to 5, with an hour lunch break. After the seminar, he chats with friends for an hour before taking a cab back to the airport. He flies back to his base city and drives home. Which hours count as “compensable” time?

You don’t have to pay Robert for his trip to the airport; that’s commuting time. But you do have to pay him from the time he arrives at the airport through his flight, cab ride and during the Chicago seminar. (You don’t have to pay for his lunch period.)

Do you pay for Robert’s chatting time with friends? If there are no other flights home until later, yes. But if Robert simply opts for a later flight to swap stories with his buddies, the answer is “No.” The cab back to the Chicago airport and the flight home are paid time. The drive home from the airport is considered unpaid commuting time. Final tip: Make sure nonexempt employees understand when they will be paid before they travel. Spell out the rules clearly in your employee policies.

Know the FLSA rules for rest periods, on-call time, training and more

In addition to travel time, employers face many other questions about what counts as “compensable time” under the FLSA. Here are answers to some of the stickier issues:

ON-CALL TIME. Employees required to remain on call on the employer’s premises are considered working while on call. Employees required to remain on call at home (or who can leave a message where they can be reached) are considered not working (in most cases) while on call.

WAITING TIME. Employees are paid for waiting time when they are “engaged to wait.” Employees fall under that definition if they’re required to be at a work site while waiting to perform work.

REST AND MEAL PERIODS. You typically must pay employees for short rest periods, usually 20 minutes or less. You generally don’t need to pay employees for bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more).

Employees must be completely relieved from duty during unpaid breaks and meal periods. Example: If you require your assistant to eat lunch at her desk in case a call comes in, she must be paid because she hasn’t been fully relieved of her duties.

Note: Many states set their own rest-break and meal-break laws. For more information on state break requirements, see www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/breaks .

SLEEPING TIME. Employees required to be on duty for less than 24 hours are considered “working,” even if they’re permitted to sleep. Employees required to be on duty for 24 hours or more may agree with their employer to exclude from hours worked any scheduled sleeping periods of eight hours or less.

TRAINING PROGRAMS AND MEETINGS. You don’t have to pay employees for time spent at training programs, lectures or similar activities as long as they meet the following four criteria: (1) The event is outside normal hours. (2) It’s voluntary. (3) It’s not job-related. (4) No work is performed during that time.

Source: Adapted from DOL Fact Sheet No. 22 .

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When Must I Pay Employees for Travel Time?

Travel Time vs. Commuting Time

Image by Jo Zixuan Zhou © The Balance 2020 

In general, your business should pay employees for the time they spend traveling for work-related activities. You don't have to pay employees for travel that is incidental to the employee's duties and time spent  commuting  (traveling between home and work). Travel time can include both local trips and travel away from home. 

Travel vs. Commuting Time 

Commuting is going back and forth to work. Everyone (at least everyone who doesn't work at home) commutes to a job. Commuting time is personal time, not business time. The IRS does not allow businesses to deduct commuting time as a business expense, and employees should not be paid for the commuting time.     

The Department of Labor (DOL) discusses employees who drive employer-provided vehicles. The DOL considers the time spent in home-to-work travel by an employee in an employer-provided vehicle, or in activities performed by an employee that are incidental to the use of the vehicle for commuting, generally is not "hours worked" and, therefore, does not have to be paid.  

Here's a possible rule of thumb: If your business authorizes a trip by an employee, no matter how the employee travels (car, train, bus, etc.) you should pay for the employee's travel time. 

Travel time for hourly and salaried employees may be counted differently. Pay to employees for local travel time is only applicable to non-exempt (hourly) employees, not to exempt (professional or managerial) employees.     Exempt employees are paid for their expertise by the job, not by the hour.  

Different Types of Travel Time:

Home to Work Travel , as explained above, is commuting time, not work time, and it's not paid.

Travel on Special One Day Assignment in Another City. The DOL says "the time spent in traveling to and return from the other city is work time," but they note that you may deduct the time the employee would spend commuting.

Sara works in an office in your company, but you send her to another city on a special assignment. She leaves from her home, goes to the city, and comes back home the same day. She spends 3 hours traveling (1 1/2 hours each way) from home to the other city. She would normally spend 30 minutes total driving from her home to work and back, so you could deduct the 30 minutes and pay her for 2 1/2 hours of travel time.

Travel That's Part of the Employee's Normal Work. Time an employee spends traveling is part of the job. You must count this time as work time. The time the employee spends going to the first job site, and home from the last job site, is commuting time and isn't paid.  

An LPN (licensed professional nurse) works for a nursing facility and travels between the two locations of this facility, providing care for patients at both locations. Her daily travel time between these locations must be included in her pay because she is not commuting. But she can't count the time driving from home to the first location or the time back home from the last location.

Travel Away from Home. If travel includes an overnight stay it is travel time. The DOL doesn't include travel away from home outside regular hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus, or car as work time. But you must count hours worked on regular working days and work hours on nonworking days (weekends and holidays).  

If an employee travels from Cleveland to Pittsburgh for a two-day seminar at the direction of your company, you must pay for the hours the employee would have worked in a normal workday for each of those days, even if they were on Saturday or Sunday.

Incidental vs. Work Travel: Paid or Not Paid?

• An employee drives to work from his home every day. You ask him to stop on his way and pick up bagels for the staff meeting. This driving time is not paid. Time commuting to work is never paid time; the time to stop for the bagels is "incidental" to the commuting and is not part of the employee's job. 
• You ask an employee to drive to a store on work time to get bagels for the office meeting. If the employee makes this trip during normal work hours, he or she should be paid. 

Also, you might want to contact an employment attorney to discuss these issues. 

Paying for Travel Expenses

In addition to paying employees for travel time, you should pay their expenses for travel. The Department of Labor doesn't require reimbursement for travel expenses, but it makes sense to pay employees if you require them to travel.   Your business can deduct employee travel expenses as a business expense.   If employees mix business and personal travel, you need to sort out the part that is business-related and pay only these expenses. 

State Regulations on Paying for Employee Travel

Check with your state labor department to see if there are any rules which might override the federal rules. Contact the nearest local office of the U.S. Department of Labor for information on specific instances of travel time that affect your business.

Internal Revenue Service. " Publication 535 (2019): Business Expenses ," Page 5. Accessed May 26, 2020.

Internal Revenue Service. " Travel & Entertainment Expenses ," Page 3. Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Travel Time ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. " Travel Time ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. " Fact Sheet: Hours of Work for Travel ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Fact Sheet #17D: Exemption for Professional Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ," Pages 1-3. Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Opinion Letter FLSA 2018 ," Page 2. Accessed May 26, 2020.

U.S. Department of Labor. " Reimbursed Travel Expense Payments ," Page 1. Accessed May 26, 2020.

Internal Revenue Service. " Topic No. 511 Business Travel Expenses ." Accessed May 26, 2020.

Vigilant Blog

News, trends and analysis in employment law, hr, safety & workers' comp.

Dec 16, 2021

WASHINGTON Q&A: Pay door-to-door for out-of-town travel

Question: We have a non-exempt (hourly) employee in Washington who’s going to be traveling out of town for work. What travel time hours do they need to be paid for?

Answer: The safest approach is to pay the employee door-to-door (from their home to the out-of-town destination and from the out-of-town destination back home). As we previously reported , Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) revised its administrative policy on “hours worked” in July 2021, broadly expanding its interpretation of Washington’s travel pay requirements for out-of-town travel (see section 5 in Policy ES.C.2 ). The new guidance explains that door-to-door travel by non-exempt employees is considered hours worked and must be paid. The Washington Court of Appeals later applied L&I’s guidance in ruling that mechanics in Tacoma who traveled to Texas and China for special training were entitled to pay for the travel time between their homes and their hotels in Texas and China ( Port of Tacoma v. Sacks , Wash App, Sept. 2021). Given this new approach in Washington, it’s important to understand how to handle travel pay in two scenarios:

Traveling out of town with an overnight stay: You must pay for all travel time from the moment employees leave their home to the moment they arrive at their final destination (such as a hotel or conference center), and from when they depart the out-of-town location to when they arrive back home. This of course is in addition to any time the employee actually works after the travel is completed. For example, if they respond to work emails at the hotel, they would also be paid for that time.

Traveling out of town with no overnight stay: Unfortunately, L&I’s guidance doesn’t define out-of-town travel, and all its examples deal with travel that involves an overnight stay. Until we have clearer guidance from L&I, we recommend paying for travel time to and from an employee’s home when the employee travels more than an ordinary commuting distance.

In both scenarios, you may be tempted to just pay for the travel time that exceeds a normal commute, but we recommend paying for all travel time when a Washington employee travels out of town beyond a normal commuting distance. Also, keep in mind that even for normal commutes (which are unpaid), once an employee reaches their first work-related destination of the day, any subsequent travel to other work-related job sites during that shift is paid time.

Unfortunately, L&I ignored comments received during its drafting process from Vigilant and others asking that the travel pay requirements not be broadened, and this change has caught many employers by surprise. If you have questions about how to pay for travel time in a specific situation, connect with your Vigilant Law Group employment attorney, and check out our Legal Guide, Compensation for Travel Time .

About The Author

Employment attorney lead vigilant law group.

• University of Washington, B.A. in English
• Seattle University, J.D., cum laude
• Attorney licensed in Washington, Idaho & Montana
• Die-hard UW Husky fan
• 6th grade geography bee champion

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A worker who travels from home to work and returns to his or her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home-to-work travel which is a normal incident of employment. Normal travel from home to work and return at the end of the workday is not work time. This is true whether the employee works at a fixed location or at a different location each day. For live-in workers, home-to-work travel that is typically unpaid does not apply in this case because the employee begins and ends his or her workday at the same home in which he or she resides.

Travel that is all in a day's work, however, is considered hours worked and must be paid.

Example : Barbara is a personal care aide providing assistance to Mr. Jones. Barbara drives him to the Post Office and grocery store during the workday. Barbara is working and the travel time must be paid. Travel away from the home is clearly work time when it cuts across the employee's workday. The employee is merely substituting travel for other duties. Thus, if an employee hired to provide home care services to an individual (consumer) accompanies that consumer on travel away from home, the employee must be paid for all time spent traveling during the employee's regular working hours. As an enforcement policy, WHD will not consider as work time the time the employee spends as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus or automobile when in travel away from home outside of regular working hours. However, the employee must be paid for all hours engaged in work or "engaged to wait" while on travel. For example, an employee who is required to travel as a passenger with the consumer "as an assistant or helper" and is expected to perform services as needed is working even though traveling outside of the employee's regular work hours. However, periods where the employee is completely relieved from duty, which are long enough to enable him or her to use the time effectively for his or her own purposes, are not hours worked and need not be compensated.

Example : John is a personal attendant for Mrs. Brown, who lives in Atlanta. Mrs. Brown attends a conference in New York City and John accompanies her by plane. John normally works 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Mrs. Brown's daughter takes her to the airport where they meet John for the flight at 6:00 pm. WHD will not consider the flight time as compensable hours because it is time spent in travel away from home outside of regular working hours as a passenger on an airplane if John is completely relieved from duty. If John provides assistance to Mrs. Brown while at the airport or during the flight or must be available to assist or help as needed, he is working and must be compensated for this time.

Direct care workers who are employed by a third-party employer : Such an employee who travels from home to work and returns to his or her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home-to-work travel that is not compensable work time. However, travel from job site to job site during the workday, such as travel between several clients during the workday, is compensable hours worked. The third-party employer is responsible for ensuring that travel time from job site to job site is paid.

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2024 RBC Heritage money: Here’s how much every player made 

Scottie Scheffler hits his tee shot on Saturday on the 15th hole at Harbour Town Golf Links.

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Max Homa left Augusta National higher than the tips of the club’s pine trees. He’d tied for third at last week’s Masters , his best-ever finish in a major. He said he handled his nerves well. He said he didn’t let expectations affect his play. 

He said he had an image. 

It came Sunday, during the final round, in the heat of battle, while walking from the 11th green to the 12th tee. There, Homa paused. Looked around. Inhaled. 

“I had a good buddy of mine remind me going into Saturday that I need to look around and smell the roses and appreciate what I get to do,” Homa said earlier this week at the RBC Heritage , “because I’ve seen some not-so-great parts of professional golf. So I was very aware on the weekend to smile. Joe [Greiner, his caddie] kept reminding me this is the most fun we’ve ever had. Appreciate that and then get back to work.

“I tried every day to walk up to that 12th tee with my eyes up and look around and scan the crowd. I got basically like a standing ovation walking to that tee, and I just tried to stare at it as long as I could and enjoy it. We got it on Saturday, as well. Just something about walking to that 12th tee is a pretty amazing feeling.”

Good stuff. At the least, it’s an interesting thought in a story where you can find out who made how much. 

Below, you can check out the complete payout breakdown for this week’s RBC Heritage, played at Harbour Town Golf Links . The total purse is $20 million. 

How much every player made at the 2024 RBC Heritage 

1. Scottie Scheffler $3.6 million 

2. Sahith Theegala $2.16 million

T3. Wyndham Clark $1.16 million Patrick Cantlay $1.16 million

T5. Justin Thomas $702,750 Patrick Rodgers $702,750 J.T. Poston $702,750 Sepp Straka $702,750

9. Collin Morikawa $581,000

T10. Chris Kirk $521,000 Ludvig Aberg $521,000

T12. Tony Finau $393,000 Brian Harman $393,000 Russell Henley $393,000 Sungjae Im $393,000 Seamus Power $393,000

17. Austin Eckroat $321,000

T18. Rickie Fowler $220,100 Andrew Putnam $220,100 Akshay Bhatia $220,100 Jason Day $220,100 Si Woo Kim $220,100 Brice Garnett $220,100 Xander Schauffele $220,100 Tom Kim $220,100 Stephan Jaeger $220,100 Tom Hoge $220,100

T28. Harris English $136,500 Denny McCarthy $136,500 Christiaan Bezuidenhout $136,500 Matt Fitzpatrick $136,500 Thomas Detry $136,500

T33. Kurt Kitayama $106,166 Alejandro Tosti $106,166 Lucas Glover $106,166 Eric Cole $106,166 Erik van Rooyen $106,166 Rory McIlroy $106,166

T39. Grayson Murray $86,500 Jordan Spieth $86,500 Mackenzie Hughes $86,500

T42. Webb Simpson $76,500 Adam Hadwin $76,500

T44. Justin Rose $62,660 Corey Conners $62,660 Sam Burns $62,660 Adam Svensson $62,660 Will Zalatoris $62,660

T49. Cam Davis $49,450 Tommy Fleetwood $49,450 Matthieu Pavon $49,450 Adam Schenk $49,450 Nick Taylor $49,450 Peter Malnati $49,450

T55. Keegan Bradley $46,200 Max Homa $46,200 Chandler Phillips $46,200

T58. Lee Hodges $44,800 Erik Barnes $44,800 Brendon Todd $44,800 Taylor Moore $44,800

T62. Jake Knapp $43,600 Cameron Young $43,600

T64. Gary Woodland $42,600 Shane Lowry $42,600 Emiliano Grillo $42,600

67. Byeong Hun An $41,800

68. Kevin Kisner $41,400

69. Nick Dunlap $41,000

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Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at [email protected].

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This Quaint Town in Portugal Was Just Named the Best Place to Invest in Europe — and It Has Stunning Beaches

Lush pine forests, cobblestone streets, endless ocean views, and low real estate prices await in this quaint community in northern Portugal.

Xurxo Lobato/Getty Images

Portugal is on everyone's mind these days. The country's sunny weather , many beaches , and affordable cost of living have made it a popular choice for retirees and digital nomads. However, as is often the case, real estate prices in some of its most sought-after regions, like the capital, Lisbon and Algarve , have soared. But that doesn't mean you should give up on your dream of owning property in Portugal.

A new report by International Living ranked the small, under-the-radar- town of Caminha the best place to invest in real estate in Europe for its value and growth potential. 

The community is located in the northwest along the mouth of the Minho River, which separates Portugal from Spain, and is home to about 16,000 residents. International Living gave Caminha a perfect score of 10 in the relative value category and nine for quality of life and stability.

"Caminha, which is only separated from Spain by a river, completely charmed me," Ronan McMahon, founder of Real Estate Trend Alert and author of International Living's Global Real Estate Index, told Travel + Leisure . "It has a beautiful Old Town surrounded by a verdant and bucolic countryside, with mountains, rivers, forests, and fields overflowing with brightly colored flowers and fruit trees heavy with their bounty. And then there are the stunning Atlantic beaches."

The ancient town has plenty of character, with fountains, churches, and other buildings dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. And it's easily accessible from Porto, which is just an hour and 15 minutes south, providing access to an international airport. 

Jeff Opdyke, International Living's personal finance editor, called Caminha a "holdover of Portugal before tourism and modernity swept over Lisbon, the Algarve, and Porto," where affordable real estate is still the norm. 

Potential buyers can find apartments downtown for as low as $150,000 and stand-alone houses for $280,000 .

And while Caminha is the best place to invest in Europe, another destination took the top prize for global real estate value: Mexico's Los Cabos. International Living ranked first with almost perfect scores in categories such as income potential, climate, and international appeal. Riviera Maya and Estepona in Spain, a town in the country's famous Costa del Sol region, are tied for the third place.

You can see the full ranking at internationaliving.com .

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Airlines will now be required to give automatic cash refunds for canceled and delayed flights

FILE - Passenger drop off their baggage at United Airlines in C Terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, in Houston. The Biden administration issued final rules Wednesday, April 24, 2024, to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

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The Biden administration issued final rules Wednesday to require airlines to automatically issue cash refunds for things like delayed flights and to better disclose fees for baggage or canceling a reservation.

The Transportation Department said airlines will be required to provide automatic cash refunds within a few days for canceled flights and “significant” delays.

Under current regulations, airlines decide how long a delay must last before triggering refunds. The administration is removing that wiggle room by defining a significant delay as lasting at least three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international ones.

Airlines still will be allowed to offer another flight or a travel credit instead, but consumers can reject the offer.

The rule will also apply to refunds of checked-bag fees if the bag isn’t delivered within 12 hours for domestic flights or 15 to 30 hours for international flights. And it will apply to fees for things such as seat selection or an internet connection if the airline fails to provide the service.

Complaints about refunds skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as airlines canceled flights and, even when they didn’t, many people didn’t feel safe sharing a plane cabin with other passengers.

Airlines for America, a trade group for large U.S. carriers, noted that refund complaints to the Transportation Department have fallen sharply since mid-2020. A spokesperson for the group said airlines “offer a range of options — including fully refundable fares — to increase accessibility to air travel and to help customers make ticket selections that best fit their needs.”

The group said the 11 largest U.S. airlines issued $43 billion in customer refunds from 2020 through 2023.

The Transportation Department issued a separate rule requiring airlines and ticket agents to disclose upfront what they charge for checked and carry-on bags and canceling or changing a reservation. On airline websites, the fees must be shown the first time customers see a price and schedule.

The rule will also oblige airlines to tell passengers they have a guaranteed seat they are not required to pay extra for, although it does not bar airlines from charging people to choose specific seats. Many airlines now charge extra for certain spots, including exit-row seats and those near the front of the cabin.

The agency said the rule will save consumers more than $500 million a year.

Airlines for America said its members “offer transparency and vast choice to consumers” from their first search.

The new rules will take effect over the next two years. They are part of a broad administration attack on what President Joe Biden calls “junk fees.” Last week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced that his department will let state officials in 15 states help enforce federal airline consumer protection laws .