When is Commuting Time Compensable (or Not)? DOL Issues Two Opinions.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued two opinion letters that provide helpful guidance on a recurring question under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): when does an employee’s time spent commuting count as hours worked? As hybrid and flexible arrangements have become more common, the question has become more complex.

The new letters offer some good news for employers with hybrid workforces, confirming that certain voluntary midday commutes between home and the office may remain unpaid for non-exempt employees. At the same time, the DOL makes it clear that travel can become compensable when a field employee is performing substantive work or when the employer exercises sufficient control over the travel.

Longstanding DOL Travel Rules

The DOL has long held two positions when it comes to compensable travel time: (1) travel from worksite to worksite during the workday is compensable; and (2) if an employee is engaged in compensable work during a commute, time spent engaged in such tasks is compensable. See 29 C.F.R. § 785.38, 785.41. With employees having increased flexibility, these seemingly simple principles can become muddied very quickly. Luckily, the DOL’s recent opinion letters provide necessary clarity.

Are Voluntary Midday Commutes Compensable for Non-Exempt Employees? Generally No

In FLSA2026-9, the DOL addresses three hybrid work scenarios:

• Adjusting Commute Time to Avoid Traffic – Not Compensable. The DOL confirmed that a non-exempt employee who chooses to work from home early in the morning, commutes to the office after traffic subsides, and leaves early to finish the day at home should not be compensated for their travel time in commute. This mid-day commute is not compensable because it is voluntary and benefits the employee.
• Performing Work at Home Before Commute – Not Compensable. The DOL likewise confirmed that a non-exempt employee who volunteers to complete extra work from home in the morning before going into the office at their normal time should also not be paid for the commute time. Even though they are commuting in the middle of work performed, the commute time remains non-compensable because, again, the commute takes place at the employee’s initiative and predominately for the employee’s benefit.
• Taking an Early Bus to Complete Work at Home – Probably Not Compensable. In the third scenario, the DOL opined that a non-exempt employee who takes their work home because they cannot finish all tasks before the last bus leaves for the day should also not be compensated for travel time. In this scenario, as long as the employee does not perform work while on the bus, his mid-day commute time remains for his benefit, so as to avoid being stranded without transportation.

Each of the three scenarios confirm the same core principle: the fact that additional work is performed at a non-exempt employee’s home does not change the employee’s house into a “job site” or suddenly make travel time an “integral and indispensable” part of that employee’s duties.

Field Commutes May be Compensable

In FLSA2026-10, the DOL addressed a scenario involving a field service engineer who travels to clients using a company-provided vehicle. The field service engineer has no designated office space and spends up to an hour each morning receiving pages and calling clients (and sometimes other employees) to schedule service appointments before arriving at the first client appointment of the day.

The DOL concluded that the calls to schedule appointments are compensable because they are “integral and indispensable” to the engineer’s principal job of working with equipment. The travel time is also compensable because the employee is required to perform substantial work immediately before driving and again immediately after arriving at the job site.

In other words, the key factor in the DOL’s analysis is that the employer dictated the time and manner of travel, and it was not chosen by the employee. The letter pointed out that if the field employee was not required to perform call work immediately before his travel, it may have come to a different conclusion.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Employers with hybrid or traveling employees should consider the following steps:

• Examine employer control. Consider whether the employer dictates when, where, or how an employee travels and whether those requirements restrict the employee’s ability to use travel time for personal purposes.
• Review hybrid work arrangements. Employers may have more flexibility to permit nonexempt employees to work from home before or after a voluntary commute without making the commute compensable, provided employees are fully relieved of work during the travel.
• Reinforce timekeeping requirements. Nonexempt employees should be instructed to record all compensable work time accurately, including work performed at home or while traveling.
• Train managers. Managers should be aware that asking an employee to make work calls, respond to substantive work matters, or perform other job duties while traveling can affect when the employee’s compensable workday begins.

The DOL’s opinion letters reinforce that not all travel occurring during a workday is automatically compensable, and the specific circumstances matter.

FMJ Law’s HR & Employment Team is available to help analyze workday and compensability questions, and we can audit policies and procedures to make sure your payment practices are in compliance with the relevant rules. Please reach out to Lindsey Krause, Natolie Hochhausen, or the rest of our team with questions about this or any other employment law topics.