Whether travel time must be paid begins with one foundational issue: the employee’s exemption status. Under the FLSA, travel‑time rules apply only to non‑exempt employees. Exempt employees do not receive additional compensation for travel time, regardless of distance, time of day, or whether the travel occurs on weekends. For non‑exempt employees, however, travel time may be compensable depending on the type of travel — and this is where employers routinely make mistakes. In short: ordinary home-to-work commuting is unpaid; travel between worksites during the workday, travel after the workday has begun, special one-day assignments to another city and overnight travel during normal work hours are paid.
Key takeaways
- Travel-time pay rules apply only to nonexempt employees.
- Ordinary home-to-work commuting is not paid, even to different job sites in the employee's normal area.
- Travel between worksites during the workday is paid, and a meal break in between doesn't end the workday.
- A special one-day assignment in another city is paid travel, minus the employee's normal commute.
- Overnight travel is paid when it falls during the employee's normal working hours, including on weekends.
- Under the DOL's July 2026 opinion letters, a voluntary mid-day trip between home and the office is unpaid commuting, but travel after substantial work at home may be paid.
- Where state law is more protective, employers must follow the state rule.
| Type of travel | Paid under the FLSA? |
|---|---|
| Ordinary home-to-work commute | No |
| Commute to a different local worksite | Generally no (some state laws differ) |
| Travel between worksites during the workday | Yes |
| Travel after picking up tools or instructions at a required location | Yes, from that location onward |
| Special one-day assignment in another city | Yes, minus the normal commute |
| Overnight travel during normal work hours (any day) | Yes |
| Overnight travel as a passenger outside normal work hours | No |
| Voluntary mid-day trip between home and office (hybrid) | No (DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-9) |
| Travel to first site after substantial work at home | Generally yes (DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-10) |
Applies to nonexempt employees. State laws may require pay for more travel.
FLSA Commuting Rules: Compensable vs. Non-Compensable Home-to-Work Travel
Normal home‑to‑work commuting is not paid. That rule is straightforward, but employers often misapply it because they overlook the exceptions.
One of the most common errors involves employees reporting to a different worksite than their usual location. Under the FLSA, travel from home to a different job site in the employee’s normal commuting area is generally still ordinary commuting, even if the drive is longer than usual. The rule changes when an employer sends a non-exempt employee on a special one-day assignment in another city. That travel is compensable worktime, but the employer may deduct the time the employee would normally spend commuting. For example, if an employee normally drives twenty minutes to their regular worksite but must drive ninety minutes to a one-day assignment in another city, the first twenty minutes remain unpaid and the remaining seventy minutes are compensable. Some state laws and company policies go further and require pay for any commute beyond the employee’s normal one, so check the rules where your employees work.
There are also situations where travel that looks like commuting becomes paid worktime. If the employee must report to a designated location to pick up tools, equipment, materials or instructions before going to the job site, travel from that location to the job site is part of the workday. Likewise, if the employee performs substantial work before or during the trip, such as calling clients, scheduling appointments or preparing assignments, the workday has begun and the travel that follows is generally compensable. Briefly checking a message or receiving an assignment usually isn’t enough on its own. And when travel is a principal part of the job itself, or occurs between worksites after the workday has started, it is worktime rather than commuting.
Remote and Hybrid Workers: FLSA Travel and Commuting Rules After the 2026 DOL Opinion Letters
Remote and hybrid work arrangements have created new questions about whether mid‑day travel between home and the office counts as compensable worktime. On July 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor issued two opinion letters — FLSA2026‑9 and FLSA2026‑10 — addressing precisely this issue. Although opinion letters are nonbinding on courts, they represent the agency’s enforcement position and may receive deference when courts find the reasoning persuasive and when no contradictory authority exists.
In FLSA2026‑9, the DOL concluded that when a non‑exempt employee voluntarily splits their workday between home and the office, the mid‑day commute remains unpaid ordinary home‑to‑work travel, even if the employee performs compensable work at home before or after the trip. The Wage and Hour Division emphasized that ordinary commuting is a third category of non‑compensable time, alongside bona fide meal breaks and off‑duty time, and clarified that mid‑day home‑to‑office travel does not become compensable merely because the employee performs work at home earlier in the day. The key factor is voluntariness: when the employee chooses the mid‑day commute for personal convenience, and the employer does not require the split‑day arrangement, the travel remains non‑compensable.
The opinion letter also addressed employer concerns about the continuous workday doctrine, explaining that allowing employees to work at home before commuting to the office does not convert the commute into paid travel so long as the employee is fully relieved of duty during the commute and the arrangement is voluntary.
In FLSA2026-10, the DOL addressed a different scenario: a field employee who received service requests at home, then called customers to schedule appointments and coordinated coverage with coworkers before driving to the first appointment. The DOL treated simply receiving the requests as non-compensable, but found that calling customers and scheduling appointments were principal activities. Because that substantial work came first, the workday had already begun, and the drive from home to the first client generally became compensable. The DOL did not decide whether a small amount of pre-departure work would have the same effect. The letter reinforces the longstanding rule that once an employee begins their principal activities, the travel that follows is part of the continuous workday and must be paid.
Taken together, these opinion letters point to a clear framework: voluntary mid-day home-to-office travel remains unpaid ordinary commuting; home-to-first-worksite travel is generally compensable when the employee performs substantial work before leaving home; and worksite-to-worksite travel remains compensable regardless of remote or hybrid status. The letters did not address mid-day travel the employer requires, but that travel is more likely to be compensable, particularly when the employee’s home has become a worksite for that day.
Employers should treat these letters as authoritative enforcement guidance while recognizing that judicial interpretation may vary.
Concerned about your FLSA-compliance? See our related articles:
FLSA Special One‑Day Assignments: When Alternate Worksite Travel Must Be Paid
Whether a single‑day worksite change qualifies as a “special one‑day assignment” under the FLSA is a highly fact‑sensitive determination. The analysis turns on the content of the employee’s job description, the employee’s normal work pattern, and whether the assignment is truly non‑routine, unusual, or performed at the employer’s special request.
If occasional travel to different local sites is already part of the employee’s job description — and the duties performed at those sites fall within the employee’s regular responsibilities — then those trips may not be “special assignments.” In those cases, the Portal‑to‑Portal Act’s commuting rule applies, and the employer is responsible only for paying the additional commuting time if the alternate worksite is farther from the employee’s home than their regular worksite.
By contrast, when an employer directs an employee to report to a location outside their normal work pattern for a one‑time, non‑routine, or unusual assignment, 29 CFR § 785.37 may apply and the travel may be compensable worktime.
FLSA Overnight Travel Rules: When Travel Time Must Be Paid
When travel keeps an employee away from home overnight, the employer must pay for travel time that occurs during the employee’s normal work hours, even if the travel occurs on weekends. For example, if an employee normally works from eight to four, any travel during those hours — whether on a Tuesday or a Saturday — is paid. Travel outside those hours is generally unpaid unless the employee is driving.
Driving vs. Passenger Travel: How the FLSA Treats Different Types of Travel Time
If the employee is required to drive, the driving time is worktime, regardless of when it occurs. Driving is work. One exception: if the employer offers public transportation and the employee chooses to drive instead, the employer may count only the time that would have been worktime had the employee taken the public option.
Passenger time is treated differently. Passenger travel is paid only when it occurs during the employee’s normal work hours. If the employee normally works from seven to three, then passenger time during those hours is compensable, even on weekends. Passenger time outside those hours is not.
Example: Home Health Aide Covering a Second Shift at a Different Worksite
Consider a home health aide who normally works 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Site A. The employer asks them — or the employee volunteers — to cover a vacant shift from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Site B.
At 3:00 p.m., the aide leaves Site A and drives to a café, arriving at 3:15. They take a 30-minute break, completely relieved of duty and free to use the time as they wish. Under the FLSA, that can be unpaid either as a bona fide meal period or as off-duty time, as long as the employee knows in advance they’re relieved and when to be at Site B. At 3:45, they resume travel and drive from the café to Site B, arriving at 4:00.
Under the FLSA, both segments of travel — Site A to the café, and café to Site B — are paid worktime. The meal break itself is unpaid, but it does not end the workday. Once the employee has begun their first principal activity, any travel between worksites during the same workday is compensable, even if the employee pauses for lunch.
Variations do not change the rule. If the employee stops at a fast-food drive-thru, grabs food, eats in the car for ten minutes, and continues on to Site B, the break is too short to qualify as a bona fide meal period. Short breaks, usually 20 minutes or less, including quick stops, eating in the car, or a few minutes between client assignments, remain paid time. In those situations, the employee has not taken a true meal break, and the travel that follows is still part of the continuous workday.
Only when the employee takes a break that is more than 20 minutes, completely relieved of duty, and long enough to use effectively for their own purposes does it become unpaid, whether or not they eat. Breaks of 20 minutes or less are always paid. Even an unpaid break doesn’t end the workday, so the travel afterward remains compensable.
Note: States that mandate meal breaks (e.g. California and New York) often require these breaks to be 30+ minutes to qualify as a meal break and be unpaid.
Does your HR Team have the experience to ensure wage-hour compliance? Don’t wait for a DOL audit or plaintiff’s attorney to alert you of it. Contact us for a confidential discussion about our labor law compliance support.
State Wage-and-Hour Laws and the FLSA: When the Stricter Rule Applies
State wage-and-hour laws can add to the FLSA’s protections, but they cannot reduce them. The FLSA sets a federal floor, not a ceiling, and its savings clause (29 U.S.C. § 218(a)) preserves state laws that are more protective. In practice, employers must comply with both. If a state law would treat certain travel as unpaid but the FLSA treats it as worktime, the employer must still pay under the FLSA. And if a state law is more protective, for example by requiring pay for additional categories of travel or imposing stricter break rules, the employer must follow the state rule as well.
Caveat: The Risks of Using AI for FLSA or Wage-and-Hour Compliance
AI tools can be helpful for brainstorming or organizing information, but they are not reliable sources for wage‑and‑hour (or other labor law) compliance. When drafting this article I sought assistance from AI (using highly detailed prompts), AI repeatedly produced:
Incorrect interpretations of FLSA travel‑time rules, especially around commuting, hybrid schedules, and special assignments.
Over‑generalized statements that ignored the fact‑sensitive nature of FLSA analysis.
Misleading summaries of DOL opinion letters, including incorrect assumptions about voluntariness, continuous workday doctrine, and remote‑work travel.
Citations to non‑authoritative commercial websites, which often oversimplify or misstate federal wage‑and‑hour standards.
Confusion between federal rules and state wage‑and‑hour laws, including situations where AI incorrectly implied state rules could override the FLSA.
Inconsistent treatment of § 785.37 and special one‑day assignments, sometimes misclassifying routine worksite changes as compensable travel.
These errors occurred even with careful prompting and legal context. Because I have dealt with FLSA compliance as part of my legal practice, I immediately saw these errors but when I confronted AI on them, it insisted it was correct, even when I gave it the applicable code section. It wasn’t until I showed it applicable case law that it accepted its conclusion was erroneous.
Because FLSA compliance is highly fact‑sensitive, and because AI systems do not reliably distinguish between authoritative legal sources and commercial summaries, employers should never rely on AI to determine whether travel time is compensable. AI can assist with drafting, but legal analysis should be performed by qualified counsel who understands the employee’s job duties, work patterns, scheduling practices, and jurisdiction‑specific requirements. Alternatively, highly-experienced HR personnel can provide you guidance on FLSA-compliance, however, the guidance is not a substitute for a legal opinion.
Legal Disclaimer: This Article Is Not Legal Advice
The subject matter discussed here is highly fact-sensitive, and small changes in job duties, scheduling practices, worksite patterns, or employer requirements can materially change the legal analysis.
If you need assistance with your labor law compliance and other specialized HR functions, contact us for a confidential discussion about our Outsourced CHRO service.
FLSA Travel Time FAQ: Commuting, Remote Work, Hybrid Schedules, and Special Assignments
Is commute time paid under the FLSA?
No. Ordinary travel between home and work is not paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act, whether the employee works at one fixed location or at different job sites in their normal area. This rule comes from the Portal-to-Portal Act and applies even if the commute is long. Commute time becomes paid only when the employee is already working, such as after doing substantial work at home or when traveling between worksites during the workday.
Do employers have to pay for travel to a different job site?
It depends on when the travel happens. A trip from home to a different local job site at the start of the day is generally ordinary commuting and is unpaid, even if it is longer than usual. Travel from one job site to another during the workday is paid. Some state laws and employer policies require pay for any commute beyond the employee’s normal one, so check the rules where your employees work.
What is a special one-day assignment under the FLSA?
A special one-day assignment is a one-time, non-routine trip to another city that falls outside the employee’s normal work pattern. Under 29 CFR 785.37, that travel is paid worktime, but the employer may deduct the time the employee would normally spend commuting. Trips that are a regular part of the job, or short trips to nearby sites, are usually treated as ordinary commuting instead.
Is travel time paid for hybrid employees who go into the office mid-day?
Not if the trip is voluntary. In Opinion Letter FLSA2026-9 (July 2026), the Department of Labor said that when a non-exempt employee chooses to split the day between home and the office for their own convenience, the mid-day trip is unpaid ordinary commuting. The employee must be fully relieved of duty during the trip. Mid-day travel the employer requires is more likely to be paid.
Is driving from home to the first job site paid if the employee works from home first?
Often, yes. In Opinion Letter FLSA2026-10 (July 2026), the DOL found that calling customers and scheduling appointments before leaving home started the workday, so the drive to the first appointment was generally paid. Simply receiving assignments before leaving was not enough to start the workday. The more substantial the work done at home, the more likely the travel that follows is paid.
Is travel between job sites during the workday paid?
Yes. Once the workday has started, travel between job sites, client homes or employer locations is paid worktime under the continuous workday rule. A break in between, such as an unpaid lunch, does not end the workday, so the travel after the break is still paid. The workday ends only when the employee has no more work scheduled that day.
Is overnight travel paid under the FLSA?
Overnight travel is paid when it takes place during the employee’s normal working hours, including the same hours on weekends and days off. For example, an employee who normally works 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. must be paid for travel between those hours on a Saturday. Time spent as a passenger outside normal working hours is generally unpaid, but any work done while traveling must be paid.
Is driving time paid differently from passenger time?
Yes. When the employer requires the employee to drive, the driving is worktime no matter when it occurs. Passenger time on a plane, train or bus is paid only when it falls during normal working hours. If the employer offers public transportation and the employee chooses to drive instead, the employer may count only the time the public option would have taken during working hours.
Can employers give unpaid breaks between job assignments?
Yes, if the break is long enough and the employee is truly free. Breaks of 20 minutes or less are always paid. A longer break can be unpaid as a bona fide meal period or as off-duty time if the employee is completely relieved of duty, can use the time for their own purposes, and knows in advance when to return. Whether the employee eats during the break does not matter.
Do exempt employees get paid for travel time?
No additional pay is required. Exempt employees receive a salary that covers all hours worked, so travel time does not change their pay under the FLSA. The travel-time rules apply only to non-exempt employees. Employers should still confirm that an employee who travels often is correctly classified as exempt.
Are DOL opinion letters binding on employers?
No. Opinion letters are not binding law, and courts are not required to follow them. However, they show how the Department of Labor will enforce the FLSA, and courts may give them weight under the Skidmore standard when the reasoning is thorough and consistent. Employers can also rely on an opinion letter as a good-faith defense in some situations.
Can state law require more travel pay than the FLSA?
Yes. The FLSA sets a federal minimum, and states can require more. Employers must follow both laws, so if a state requires pay for additional travel or has stricter break rules, the stricter rule applies. A state cannot reduce the pay the FLSA requires.
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