Does Travel Time Count Toward Overtime?

Understanding the Travel Time, or Portal to Portal, Rules for Overtime Pay

It is important to understand what hours count toward 40 in a week in calculating overtime pay for non-exempt employees. Employee travel time is one thing that can confuse people in this regard.

Basic commuting time- your travel from home to work and back again if you work in a fixed location- is not paid time, and does not count toward the 40 hours.

Some employees, however, work at multiple locations during the day. Home health aides, for example, who see multiple clients, cleaners who visit multiple homes, or tradespeople who work at more than one job in a day.

For those people, the time spent moving from site to site within the day is considered paid time, and does count toward the 40 hour maximum. Also, if you are required to do substantial work from home before going to the job, or after returning home, your commuting time may be considered working time.

Learn more here about compensation for travel time.