Pay for Travel Time?
Posted on 16-Jul-07 by The Timekeeper
At least two home health care agencies in Georgial have been sued in recent weeks for allegedly failing to pay their workers for travel time between job assignments. Apparently, employees of Caremaster Medical Services (Griffen, GA) approached lawyers when they read news reports about a suit filed against ResCare, a nationwide provider with offices in Senoia, GA.
According to one of the plaintiff’s lawyers in both cases, Benjamin H. Terry, “Plaintiffs were given specific instructions by the defendant that they could not submit time sheets reflecting time spent for travel between job sites during the day.” According to Terry, they will “seek to have the case certified as a collective action,” which would cover all affected employees going back to July 2004.
According to the U.S. DOL, “Time spent traveling during normal work hours is considered compensable work time.”
There are a few exceptions. For instance, normal commuting time is not generally considered compensable. On the whole, the law seems pretty clear — and if it isn’t, a brief consultation with a qualified employment law attorney should be enough to set the matter straight.
With the rise of flexible work scheduling and telecommuting work, more and more employers are going to have to be aware of these kinds of considerations. With the aging of the population, the need for home health care workers and other in-home aides is likely to grow.
Methinks it might be a good time for prudent businesspeople to make sure they’re up-to-date on the laws regarding compensation for travel time!
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