Warning: New FLSA travel time obligation on the horizon

A recent ruling by a federal court of appeals in one of our Great Lake states adds a new spin on whether you need to pay for travel time under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The answer is putting Texas employers on notice of a possible new obligation.

What are the rules?

The rules on paying employees for travel time are found in the federal Code of Regulations. Here goes:

29 C.F.R. Section 785.35:

An employee who travels from home before his regular workday and returns to his home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel which is a normal incident of employment. This is true whether he works at a fixed location or at different job sites. Normal travel from home to work is not [compensable] worktime.

There is more. 29 C.F.R. Section 785.39 states:

Travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight is travel away from home. Travel away from home is clearly worktime when it cuts across the employee’s workday. The employee is simply substituting travel for other duties. The time is not only hours worked on regular working days during normal working hours but also during the corresponding hours on nonworking days.

Facts of the case

Professional Labor Group (PLG) employs individuals skilled in various trade classifications including electricians, millwrights, and similar occupations. It sends these workers to various clients.