Static educational checklist — not a calculator. No punch inputs, no live travel-pay math. Use this to spot common FLSA hours-worked red flags for home-to-work commuting, travel during the workday, overnight / special one-day assignments, and continuous-workday gaps. States can be stricter — this page tracks the federal Part 785 interpretive baseline.
Federal baseline (hours worked — travel)
DOL interpretive rules in 29 CFR Part 785 explain when travel time is hours worked under the FLSA. Starting points: Cornell LII — § 785.35 (home to work; ordinary situations), § 785.38 (travel that is all in a day’s work), § 785.39 (travel away from home community), and matching eCFR Part 785. This page does not compute payable hours.
Checklist — travel-time red flags
Ordinary home-to-work commute (§ 785.35). Flag policies that treat a normal commute as always unpaid and also policies that always pay it — ordinary home-to-work travel is generally not hours worked, but exceptions exist (e.g., emergency call-backs, special one-day travel). Do not invent a blanket rule from a stub alone.
Home to work on a special one-day assignment in another city (§ 785.37). Flag unpaid “commute” on a same-day out-of-town assignment when the employee travels to another city and returns the same day. Federal interpretive rules often treat travel time (minus normal home-to-work) as hours worked in that pattern — meal time may still be excluded if bona fide.
Travel that is all in the day’s work (§ 785.38). Flag time driving between job sites, from the shop/yard to a customer site, or between customers after the day has begun — that travel is generally hours worked. Look for unpaid gaps labeled “drive time,” “windshield,” or “transit” mid-shift.
Travel away from home community (§ 785.39). For overnight / multi-day travel away from the home community, flag unpaid travel during the employee’s normal working hours on non-working days (and corresponding hours on working days). Passenger time outside normal hours is often treated differently from work performed while traveling.
Work performed while traveling (§ 785.41). Flag “travel only” coding when the employee is actually working en route (driving as a duty, answering tickets, loading, supervising). Time spent working while traveling is hours worked regardless of whether the trip itself would otherwise be unpaid passenger time.
Continuous workday / unpaid gaps (§ 785.38 + Part 785 generally). Flag schedules that punch out for mid-day travel between sites, unpaid “waiting for the next job,” or long unpaid gaps while the employee remains under the employer’s control. Pair with waiting-time / on-call facts when the gap looks like idle time on duty.
Pay-stub / OT interaction. Travel hours that are hours worked count toward the FLSA 40-hour overtime threshold in the same workweek and feed the regular-rate analysis. Cross-check with the overtime pay-stub checklist when travel pay, per diems, and OT appear together.
State overlays. Some states treat certain commuting / report-to-site patterns more protectively than federal Part 785. Flag handbook language that cites only “FLSA commute is unpaid” when employees report to changing job sites or carry tools/equipment as a duty. This checklist does not map every state rule.
Not sponsored yet — plain outbound links. Affiliate-ready later; no tracking params today. StatutePay hours-worked page above is an outbound tool — not a sponsored claim.
Educational checklist only — not legal advice, not a travel-pay calculator, and not an audit. Always read the full CFR and apply facts, CBA terms, and state overlays. States differ. Last updated 2026-09-06. Home · Meal & rest · Tip credit · OT stub checklist · Cheat sheet · StatutePay