FAQ’s About Non-Exempt Employee Travel Time Pay

Q: I’m confused about when I have to pay my employees travel time. Can you help?

Yes! When an employee is required to report to a work site other than their regular site, the employer must pay the employee travel time for any time in excess of the employee’s normal commute time to and from the regular site. For example, it usually takes an employee 30 minutes for their commute from home to their office. You direct them to report to another office that is 60 minutes away. Therefore, you would need to pay the employees for 30 minutes of travel time since it is 30 minutes in excess of their regular commute.

Once the workday has begun, any travel between work sites or other locations is also compensable time. If an employee has a temporary work location change, the employee must be compensated for any additional time required to travel to the new job site in excess of the employee's normal commute time.

Q: My employee is traveling out of town for a work conference. How do I pay them while traveling?

If an employer requires an employee to attend an out-of-town business meeting, training session, or any other event, the employer must pay for the employee's time in getting to and from the location of that event.   For example, your employee flies from Sacramento to LA to attend a conference. The time they spend driving, or as a passenger on an airplane, train, bus, taxi cab or car, or other mode of transportation, in traveling to and from this out-of-town event, and time spent waiting to purchase a ticket, check baggage, or get on board is all paid time.  Because the employee is subject to the employer's control they must be paid for these hours worked.

Once they arrive at their destination and are free to do as they please, for example, eating a meal, sightseeing, sleeping or engaging in purely personal pursuits not connected with traveling or making necessary travel connections, it is not considered work time and is not compensable.   

Q: Can I pay a lower hourly rate of pay when the employee is traveling?

Yes, an employer may establish a separate rate of pay for travel before the work is performed for hourly employees, provided the rate does not fall below the applicable minimum wage. But keep in mind that nonexempt employees must be paid at the appropriate overtime rate (i.e., any hours worked in excess of eight in a workday or 40 in a workweek, among other overtime requirements). (See Labor Code Section 515). If travel time and work time exceed eight hours in a workday, the employee must receive travel pay at one and one-half times the weighted average of the regular pay rate and the travel time rate combined (note, double time is owed if travel time and work time exceed twelve hours in a workday).

CEA has fact sheets on travel pay as well as calculating overtime available to our members.  Visit our HR Forms page and select “Pay and Scheduling” to see a full list of our fact sheets and reference tools.