Paid for drive time?

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fisherelectric

Senior Member
Location
Northern Va
When I was working for ECs we used to show up 1/2 hr early at work, take the company truck from the shop and work 8 hours, then drive back to the shop on our own time. Is that still the way things work or do employees now get paid until they bring the truck back to the shop? Are there labor laws that address this issue?
 
ASK_EDDIE

ASK_EDDIE

Member
Location
TEXAS
drive time

drive time

I used to work for a guy in the 80's.... he would pay from the shop to the job but not the travel back. Of course none of us liked it, most times we pickup a little early and drove slow back to the shop.
I pay my guys both ways. Im sure that as long as theyre in the company truck they are suppose to be paid.
 
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fisherelectric

Senior Member
Location
Northern Va
Actually I'm hiring a guy to work for me who insists that the Va labor laws state he should get paid as long as he's driving my truck. Seems like a good guy, knowledgeable, experienced, but this could be a deal breaker. I've always had my employees work til quitting time and ride home on their time. Maybe I'm wrong?
 
480sparky

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
If you are in a company truck, loaded with company tools & material, driving to a company job, you should be on the company clock.

Exception: If you drive said company truck home for the night.
 
jumper

jumper

Senior Member
Location
3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
fisherelectric said:
Actually I'm hiring a guy to work for me who insists that the Va labor laws state he should get paid as long as he's driving my truck. Seems like a good guy, knowledgeable, experienced, but this could be a deal breaker. I've always had my employees work til quitting time and ride home on their time. Maybe I'm wrong?
Click to expand...

I will double check, but I doubt VA labor laws cover drive time, company truck or not.
 
stevebea

stevebea

Senior Member
Location
Southeastern PA
fisherelectric said:
Actually I'm hiring a guy to work for me who insists that the Va labor laws state he should get paid as long as he's driving my truck. Seems like a good guy, knowledgeable, experienced, but this could be a deal breaker. I've always had my employees work til quitting time and ride home on their time. Maybe I'm wrong?
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure he is right according to Department of Labor. I believe travel to your first stop of the day and travel from your last stop of the day to home is considered a normal incident of employment and not considered work time, whereas travel time between jobs during the day would be considered work time.
 
jumper

jumper

Senior Member
Location
3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
stevebea said:
I'm not so sure he is right according to Department of Labor. I believe travel to your first stop of the day and travel from your last stop of the day to home is considered a normal incident of employment and not considered work time, whereas travel time between jobs during the day would be considered work time.
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Yep, in VA, that is the way it is. Employers may re-imburse at will for this time and expense.
 
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fisherelectric

Senior Member
Location
Northern Va
From VA Dept Of Labor under Travel Time:
Time spent traveling between worksites during a workday is compensable under 29 C.F.R. 785.38. For example, if a worker reports to the main office to start the day and is then told to report to another job site, all time spent traveling to that worksite and back again to the main office will be paid. Some workers normally report to a number of jobsites each day as part of their duties; all such time is compensable. If the worker does not have to report back to the main office after finishing at the last jobsite, but instead returns directly home, the time spent returning home is not compensable.

The guy I'm hiring is right.
 
S

satcom

Senior Member
In many states the commercial truck liability insurance is tied to workers compemsation for anyone operating or riding in the truck must be on the clock every time the truck rolls and yes even if the truck goes home from the last job, trying to save a few bucks end up costing you everything if there is an accident and an employee is off the clock
 
tkb

tkb

Senior Member
Location
MA
This guy is a trouble maker and even though he may be good, you will regret hiring him.
He will nickel and dime you to death.
Look for another guy that wants to work.
 
D

dbuckley

Senior Member
Location
Canterbury, New Zealand
tkb said:
This guy is a trouble maker and even though he may be good, you will regret hiring him.
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How do you jump from someone being knowledgable to being a troublemaker?

I've never found hiring bright capable people to be a mistake. Granted, it's mostly not my dime they've been on, so I've never had to carry the risk personally.
 
R

rodneee

Senior Member
fisherelectric said:
When I was working for ECs we used to show up 1/2 hr early at work, take the company truck from the shop and work 8 hours, then drive back to the shop on our own time. Is that still the way things work or do employees now get paid until they bring the truck back to the shop? Are there labor laws that address this issue?
Click to expand...

if you report to a shop and leave in a company truck for a jobsite you are one the clock the whole time (less breaks and lunch
) until you return...if you get stuck in a two hour traffic jam on the way HOME you get paid for this time also...if you report to a shop and leave for a jobsite in a personal vehicle you are on the clock the whole time provided you return to the shop at the end of the day...if you leave the jobsite and go directly home you do not get paid for the ride home as this is considered your
"commute" which is unpaid...if you take a truck home at night you are only paid from the time you arrive at the jobsite until you leave...if a company employee picks you up in a company truck at your house and takes you to the jobsite and home at days end you are only paid for your time at the jobsite;while the driver would be on the clock from the time he reports to the shop to pick up the truck until he drops the truck off back at the shop...
 
tkb

tkb

Senior Member
Location
MA
dbuckley said:
How do you jump from someone being knowledgable to being a troublemaker?

I've never found hiring bright capable people to be a mistake. Granted, it's mostly not my dime they've been on, so I've never had to carry the risk personally.
Click to expand...

It is not a hard jump.
He is already disputing travel time during the interview so I would not hire him.
I am sure there are others that would be happy just to have a job and not dispute the travel.

The OP would be better off letting him take the truck home and require him to be paid only while he is on the job.
 
jumper

jumper

Senior Member
Location
3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
I think see the problem. The OP seems to require employees to go to the shop and then go to the jobsite.

I was never required to go to the shop. My "place of employment" was anywhere within a 45 mile radius. I could ride with the foreman in the company truck or drive myself if it was more convenient.

My response was based on the idea that was general construction near the shop and the new guy was not actually the driver of the company truck.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
This opens up all kinds of scenarios.

What if the employee uses company truck to commute for conducting personal business either during the day or on the way to work or on the way home. By doing so he may save time (time he could have spent working) by not having to drive back to shop, office or even home to get his personal vehicle to use for his personal business.

Personal business could be anything from a doctor appointment, to going to a childs school function, picking up dinner for the evening, stopping to use a restroom.

Someplace it has to be determined what is acceptable and what is not, as well as if it is acceptable at what point are you on company time and when are you on your own time even though you may be in a company vehicle.

Rules are much simpler when the workplace is a fixed location. When it varies all the time it gets complicated. One job may be closer to home than the shop, but the next one is not. Then there is traveling to a job where you will not be coming home and have to spend the night, somehow it must be determined when you are on the job and when you are on personal time, yet you are essentially representing your company the entire time you are there.
 
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