Can I Be Compensated for Travel Time?

With employees spending so much time traveling to and from work, it is common for workers to wonder if they should be compensated for travel during work hours. While your commute time to work is not compensable (meaning that your employer is not required to compensate you for that), your employer must pay for travel time if it is connected with your job duties.

The truth is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act require compensation for employees such as overtime pay for employees who work over 40 hours within one workweek. Of the time worked that must be compensated, some travel time is required to be paid.

If you feel a law has been broken in connection with your compensation, talk to our Columbus wage lawyers. They can help you to determine if a law was violated. And if it was, they can secure the compensation you deserve.

Travel from Home to Work

Under the FLSA, any time that is spent during a normal commute to or from work is not considered part of your work hours. But, there may be compensation available if the home to work travel was to another location, other than your normal worksite, for an individual one-day assignment.

This changes when travel includes overnight stays. In those instances, the employer must compensate for travel during normal work hours even if it happens on a day not typically worked. With trains and planes, moving from terminals to stations is commute time, which is not eligible for compensation, but sitting in an airport terminal awaiting a work flight is eligible for compensation, when it occurs during work hours.

There are twists and turns depending on your job and what your job duties are. The laws around compensation for travel time can be very complex. Experienced Columbus wage lawyers can help you understand the ins and outs of FLSA. Together, you can determine if you should be receiving more compensation, including overtime, than you are currently.

Talk to our Wage Law Attorneys Today

If you have not been compensated for travel time during your work hours, it is important you speak with experienced wage and hour attorneys. There is a lot of confusion surrounding the rules and regulations of paid travel time. An employer might not even know what is legal and what is not. Talking to our wage law attorneys is a path to understanding the system.

In situations where travel time is not being paid, it is likely the illegal behavior is impacting multiple employees. There may be an opportunity for one affected worker to launch a collective action to secure compensation for all the employees concerned. A collective action is legal under the guidelines of the FLSA and provides for the opportunity to receive additional compensation on top of unpaid wages or overtime, liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees.

The Columbus wage & hour lawyers at Coffman Legal LLC are strong and committed advocates for all Ohio workers. Contact our attorneys today to further discuss your employment claim. They can guide you through the process of securing compensation that you deserve. Call 614-949-1181 for a free and confidential consultation.