Time worked — travel and training time
In the last Personnel
Pointers, this column looked at some of the situations that must
be considered as time worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Now,
consider the question of time worked as it relates to travel time and time spent
in training by county employees.
Generally, travel to and from work is not considered work time under the
FLSA. This applies even though the employee may be required to report to
different job sites at various times. There may, however, be situations when
travel to work would be considered time worked. Anexample would be an employee
who receives an emergency call after going home after completing his orher day's
work. If the employee has to travel a substantial distance to handle the
emergency situation, the travel to the job could be considered time worked.
Beyond this limited area, the Department of Labor is not taking a stance on the
status of travel time for home to work travel in emergency situations.
If the employee is required to report to a specific location to receive
instructions, to perform other work there, or to pick up tools and materials,
the travel from that location to the actual job site is considered to be part of
the days work and must be counted as work time. If the employee is sent to
another assignment after finishing his normal work for the day, the time spent
in travel to the new assignment is considered work time. If the employee goes
home after finishing the other assignment, the travel to home is not considered
work time. If, however, the employee must return to the employer's premises
before being relieved from duty, the travel time back to the employer's premises
is work time.
If an employee is sent to another city on a one day assignment, leaving and
returning on the same day, all time spent in traveling to the new assignment is
considered work time. However, the employee may exclude the time it takes to
travel to the airport or other departure point of public transportation.
If travel away from home (overnight travel) is involved, any travel time that
cuts across the employee's normal workday is travel time, even if the travel is
on a normal day off for the employee.
For example, if an employee had a
normal work schedule of 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday, any time
he or she spent traveling for the employer during those hours on a weekend would
be classified as work time. Asan enforcement policy, the Department of Labor
will not consider time spent in travel away from home as work time if the travel
is outside of regular working hours and the employee is a passenger on an
airplane, train, boat, or automobile.
Any work that the employer requires the employee to perform while traveling
must be counted as work time no matter what the day of the week or time of day.
Determining whether time spent in meetings and training is work time
generally depends on who made or influenced the decision toattend. According to
the Department of Labor, time spent in lectures, meetings, training programs,
and similar activities do not have to count as training time if all the
following criteria are met:
- Attendance is outside the employee's regular working hours;
- Attendance is in fact voluntary;
- The course, lecture, or meeting is not directly related to the
employee's job; and
- The employee does not perform any productive work during such
attendance.
If the employer requires the employee to attend meetings
or training, then the attendance is not voluntary and the time must be viewed as
time worked. If the employer gives the employee reason to believe that failure
to attend the training would negatively affect his or her present working
conditions or the continuance of employment, then the attendance is also viewed
as involuntary.
Training is viewed as being directly related to the employee's job if it is
designed to help the employee perform his or her current job more effectively.
If, however, the training prepares the employee for a new job or gives a new or
additional skill, the training may not be seen as related to the employee's job.
Training courses that are provided for the bona fide purpose of preparing
employees for advancement by developing higher skill levels, and are not
intended to make the employee more efficient in his are her present job, are not
viewed as job related even though the training may, incidentally, improve the
employee's skills in doing his or her present job.
It is not uncommon for an employee to attend independent training after
hours, at his or her own initiative, to improve skills. Such training is not
viewed as time worked for the employer since the decision to attend was made
solely at the discretion of the employee.
In some situations, an employer may provide a program of instruction which
corresponds to courses offered by independent bona fide institutions of learning
for the benefit of the employees. If an employee voluntarily attends such
training outside of working hours, the time would not be considered time worked
even though the training is directly related to the employee's job and/or is
paid for by the employer.
Additional information on what is considered to be hours worked under the
Fair Labor Standards Act may be found in 29
CFR, Part 785 - "Interpretative Bulletin: Hours Worked Under the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, As Amended."