Different professions require different amounts of travel. Some people may work from home, while others travel to the office each day. Others may have to take trips abroad or drive to different locations throughout the week. 

Are employers legally required to pay for travel in California? Here are some important points to consider. 

Control must be exerted by your employer

The California Industrial Welfare Commission created various “wage orders” that define what is considered “hours worked,” which is “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, and includes all the time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.” (See, e.g., Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 11010, subd. 2. DEFINITIONS, (K) Hours Worked.)  There are two key factors to consider. Compensable time is not just the hours an employer requested the employee to work but also any hours the employer has “suffered or permitted” an individual to work or any hours when they subjected the employee to a significant amount of control.

Other authorities, show that the time an employee spends in its normal commute to and from work is generally not compensable. However, this not always the case.  There are some instances when a commute to and from work must be compensated as “Hours Worked.” The level of control on the part of the employer is one of the factors. The more control the employer exercises in the way the employees commute and the activities that are allowed to participate during their commute, the more likely that the employer must pay their workers for their commute time. 

Travel time may be compensable if, 

1. The employee is not free to choose whether or not to ride its own vehicle to the first location at which he or she is required  , and instead the employee is required to ride a specific bus, shuttle or company provided transportation. In this instance, it is the employer who decides when the employee is commuting to work and what activities are allowed during the commute.
2. The employer requires an employee to travel to a location that it exceeds the normal home-to-work commute, for example, to travel to another city, and the employee is not assigned to a specific workplace.
3. The employer requires the employee to travel and report to multiple locations during the same workday.  Any travel required from the first location to the next is considered hours worked, regardless of whether the employee clocks-in or not at the first location.

Travel time must be paid at a rate equivalent to or more than the California minimum wage. It’s important to note that travel worked hours will be counted toward your daily and weekly entitlements to overtime or double time. 

Reimbursements for Travel Expenses

When using your own vehicle for travel that your employer has significant control over, you may also be entitled to expenses. These could include insurance, vehicle wear and tear as well as gasoline. 

As you can see, the law in this area can be complex. To ensure that you are being paid fairly, it can help to seek legal guidance.