Many employers have employees who are required to travel as part of their jobs.
It is often difficult to determine whether employees are required to be paid for this time because the laws and regulations that govern the compensability of travel time are confusing and open to conflicting interpretations. A recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Kavanagh vs. Grand Union Co. Inc., illustrates the complex and sometimes counterintuitive nature of the travel-time rules. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are required to pay employees at least minimum wage for all hours worked, and are required to pay employees at least one and a half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in one work week. Whether hours spent traveling are considered hours worked depends on the type of travel involved and the time and day of the week that the travel occurs. The Department of Labor regulations provide that ordinary travel between home and work before and after performance of an employee's principal work activities is not compensable.