In an article published May 28 in Construction Executive, Jaime Wisegarver details guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) related to the compensability of travel time for non-exempt employees. While the question of whether businesses are required to pay employees for travel time continues to plague employers, the DOL opinion letter addresses the issue for non-exempt foremen and laborers in three scenarios.
“The first scenario discussed in the opinion letter involves travel to and from a local jobsite, meaning a jobsite that is close to or within the same city as the employer’s principal place of business,” Wisegarver writes. While the foreman’s trip from home to the employer’s place of business is an ordinary home-to-work commute that is not compensable, travel from the employer’s place of business to a jobsite is compensable when the foreman is required to retrieve, drive and drop off the company truck. However, the same may not be true for other laborers who choose to meet at the place of business and ride with the foreman to the jobsite.
In Scenario Two, workers are away from home overnight for work at a remote jobsite. Travel from a hotel to the jobsite is considered normal “home” to work travel and is not compensable, but there are exceptions. If laborers are driving or riding to a remote jobsite during normal work hours (even on what would otherwise be a non-work day), the time is compensable. If the employer offers to transport laborers to the remote jobsite in the company truck, but the laborer chooses to drive his or her own vehicle, the employer has a choice to make: count as compensable worktime either (1) the actual amount of compensable time the laborer accrues in driving to the remote jobsite, or (2) the amount of time that would have accrued during travel in the company truck.
“Scenario Three also involves a remote jobsite but with a slight twist: the laborers choose to drive between the remote jobsite and their homes each day,” Wisegarver said. “While the laborers’ travel to and from the jobsite at the beginning and end of the job would be treated as in Scenario Two, their intervening drives home and back to the remote jobsite would not be compensable.’
Click here to read the full article.
Jaime handles a variety of civil litigation matters, with a particular emphasis on cases arising out of real property disputes, including appeals of zoning and other land use decisions, appeals of tax assessments, and construction ...
Subscribe
Subscribe to Hirschler by EmailRecent Posts
- “No Damages for Delay” Provisions Held Unenforceable
- NLRB ‘Joint Employer’ Rule Delayed Once Again
- AIA Construction Forecast Foresees Cooling Construction Spending
- Virginia Mechanic’s Liens – “Merely Inaccurate” or “Invalid and Unenforceable”?
- Tools to Protect Construction Businesses from the Effects of a Third Party Bankruptcy
- The Death of “Pay-When-Paid” in Virginia: Truth or Rumor?
- A New Trap for Unwary Contractors: Holding Payment on One Project for Claims in Another
- What Employers Need To Know About the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing
- Kelly Bundy Appointed to the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board
- Jaime Wisegarver Outlines Labor Department Guidance on Travel Time Pay in Construction Executive
Popular Topics
- Contracts
- Employment
- Mechanic's Liens
- Legislation
- Department of Labor (DOL)
- Damages
- Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
- Delays
- Insurance
- Litigation
- COVID-19, Coronavirus Outbreak
- Dispute Resolution
- Safety
- Government Contracts
- Indemnification
- Suretyship
- Records
- Little Miller Act
- Payment
- Procurement
- Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR)
- Workforce Development
- Miller Act
- Environmental
- FLSA
- Licenses
- Subrogation
- Negligence
- Tax
- Arbitration
- Mediation
- Scheduling
- Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Lien Waivers
- Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission
- Force Majeure
- Joint Checks
- Unjust Enrichment
- Uniform Statewide Building Code
- Change Orders
Contributors
Archives
- March 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- May 2023
- May 2022
- March 2022
- November 2021
- August 2021
- June 2021
- April 2021
- January 2021
- October 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- November 2019
- August 2019
- June 2019
- April 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016