Some of the unique circumstances created by remote work has spawned questions regarding compensation under the FLSA. One area of concern, particularly for employers who are new to remote work, is the compensability of travel time when an employee chooses to split their time between remote and on-site work in a single workday. On December 31, 2020, the Department of Labor issued an opinion letter which will help answer some of these questions.
In FLSA 2020-19, the DOL analyzed two situations where an employee chooses to split her time between working from home and working from the office with varying amounts of intervening personal activities between work sites. In the DOL’s first example, an employee began working in the office, left for a personal activity, and resumed working at home after a one-hour commute. In the second example, an employee began working from home, conducted personal activities for three hours, and resumed working from the office for the remainder of the day.
The DOL concluded that neither of the identified examples contained compensable travel time. Once the employee in the first example left work, the time was hers to do with as she pleased, meaning she was completely relieved of duty. Likewise, neither the travel time to/from the personal activity between work shifts nor the travel time back home at the end of the day in the second example was compensable for the same reason.
Many employers will be familiar with the worksite-to-worksite rule, and the similar “continuous workday” doctrine, which generally require that travel between worksites be compensated as worktime. However, the DOL emphasized that the described travel time does not fall under either of these doctrines. First, worksite-to-worksite travel requires compensation for travel that is part of an employee’s principal activity or required by an employer. In the examples addressed by the DOL in FLSA 2020-19, the employee traveled for personal rather than work-related activities. Further, the travel time was not part of a continuous workday because the employee was off duty while traveling and could use the time for her own purposes.
In summary, the DOL concluded that when an employee chooses to work in blocks divided by personal activities, the time spent traveling to and from those activities to either a remote or office worksite is not compensable. It should be noted that the employees in the examples chose to divide their workday to conduct personal activities; an employee’s time may be compensable if the employer requires them to perform certain work prior to travel or if they are not completely relieved of duty while traveling.
The attorneys at Fishel Downey Albrecht & Riepenhoff, LLP regularly assist employers with a range of compliance matters. If you have any questions about this or any other matter, please contact us at info@fisheldowney.com or call 614-221-1216.