Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/293496
22 Oil Prophets How to Determine When an Employee Commute Becomes Compensable Time Mark S. Morgan Regulatory Counsel The general rule for when employees must be paid for travel is fairly straightforward: employees are not paid for time driving to and from work, while employees travelling during the workday on company business must be paid. However, as petroleum marketers consolidate into more high tech 21st century energy companies, and as technologies continue to evolve, the 9 to 5 work model is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Employees are now working more flexible schedules, often from home, their vehicle or some other remote location. These changes make it less clear to the employer where an employee's compensable work begins and ends. Under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are generally not required to compensate their employees for commuting time. Moreover, "normal travel time" from home to work and back again, whether from a fixed location or multiple job sites, is not compensable under the FLSA. Things start to become murky, however, when trying to determine the type of employee activities that trigger the start of the compensable work day. This is an important determination for employees working part or full time outside traditional bricks and mortar locations because once the work day begins, all travel time is compensable. Both the Courts and the DOL have found that the following circumstances taking place before, during, or determine whether activities transform non-compensable commute time into compensable time. Non-Compensable Activities During a Commute Employee commute time is generally not compensable. This is true even when the following factors (without more) are present: Commuting in a Company • Vehicle: Commuting to work in a company vehicle does not trigger compensation provided the work site is within the normal commuting area of the employer's primary business establishment and the use of the vehicle is subject to an agreement or mutual understanding between the employer and the employee. Employer restrictions prohibiting the vehicle from being used for personal business, transporting passengers or requiring employees to maintain cell phone access while using company vehicle, do not make otherwise non-compensable commute time compensable. Receiving Job • Assignments: The receipt of a job assignment or other instructions before or during a commute does not require trigger employee compensation requirements. Transporting Equipment: • Transporting tools, equipment and parts necessary to perform a job related activity does not make commute time compensable. Loading Equipment: • Loading personal equipment (such as gloves, uniforms, safety equipment) does not trigger the start of a workday requiring commute time to be compensable. Incidental Activities: • Incidental or De minimis activities are ones conducted infrequently take a minimal amount of time to perform, and are administratively impractical to record. De minimis activities performed REGULATORY CORNER