Many business owners are faced with the challenge of paying non-exempt employees for time while traveling. The laws requiring compensation for travel time under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) can be very confusing. The compensation an employee is eligible to receive depends on the mode of travel as well as when the travel takes place.

Employees are not eligible for compensation for the time spent traveling between home and work. This also means that employees who are away on business are not eligible for compensation for time spent traveling between a hotel and the worksite or home and the airport.

Any other travel done by employees for business purposes should be compensated as follows:

*Any travel time during normal working hours (between 8:30am-5:30pm on any day of the week) will be paid at the regular hourly rate and be subject to overtime.

*Any travel time spent as the driver of an automobile, regardless of whether the travel time is during normal working hours will be paid at the regular hourly rate and be subject to overtime.

*Travel time spent as the passenger in an automobile outside of normal working hours will be paid one-half (1/2) the regular hourly rate and this time will not be factored into overtime calculations.

For employees who choose a mode of transportation different from the one authorized (such as driving rather than flying) only the estimated travel time for the authorized mode of transportation is eligible for compensation.

For example, if a non-exempt employee chooses to drive rather than fly from Salt Lake City, UT to Boise, ID the employee will only be compensated for the one hour it would normally take to fly.

Some other rules to remember:

*If an employee is traveling between time zones, the point of departure should be used to determine whether or not the travel is during normal working hours.

*Travel time should be calculated by rounding up to the nearest quarter hour.

*Meal periods should be deducted from travel compensation.

*Employees are responsible for accurately tracking and reporting their travel time.

If you have non-exempt employees who are traveling for business, it is important to make sure you understand the laws and speak with your HR representative about exceptions. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding the compensation of your employees.

Samantha Bushard is an HR employee for the Idaho office of A Plus Benefits, Inc.