time in the truck

Status
Not open for further replies.
JohnJ0906 said:
Actually, a few months longer.

I'd worked with him elsewhere, so I know that he was possibly also 1)drinking on the job 2)leaving job early 3)excesive calling in sick.
Click to expand...

So this guy wanted to be paid for both driving and drinking? Not a bad deal if you can get it. :grin:
 
JES2727 said:
I'm not judging you Mr Erikson, just disagreeing.
I'm an employer too, just like you. I would not ask my guys to drive my truck back to the shop on their own time.
Click to expand...

They are being paid to travel. 50% of their standard rate. We are typically talking 15 minutes of travel. Sometimes as I said, 30 - 40.
 
growler said:
You don't really think that a guy that drinks on the job is going to bother to sober up for the drive home do you? :roll:
Click to expand...


Nope, not really, In all my years of working some of the smartest people I met always had some type of alcoholic or drug problem. :-?
 
j_erickson said:
They are being paid to travel. 50% of their standard rate. We are typically talking 15 minutes of travel. Sometimes as I said, 30 - 40.
Click to expand...

Not judging... but i love how people just willy nilly make up rules and say "There, now isn't that fair!"

Andy
 
I'll say this, I'm sure glad I don't work for some of you here.
In the past when I worked for someone else, here is what the rules were.

My car or van: Pay starts when I get to the job site, pay stops when I leave.

Company van, drive to job site & home from job site: Pay starts when I get to the job site, pay stops when I leave the job site.

Company van, drive to shop to pick up & return to shop: Pay starts when I get to the shop, pay stops when I return to the shop.

Anything less than the above 3 examples, you are being taken advantage of by your employer, and I don't care what state laws are regarding this.
 
Last edited:
Federal law follows what Bob just said...here is the explanation of 29 CFR 785.38

Time spent by an employee in travel as part of his principal
activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday,
must be counted as hours worked. Where an employee is required to report
at a meeting place to receive instructions or to perform other work
there, or to pick up and to carry tools, the travel from the designated
place to the work place is part of the day's work, and must be counted
as hours worked regardless of contract, custom, or practice. If an
employee normally finishes his work on the premises at 5 p.m. and is
sent to another job which he finishes at 8 p.m. and is required to
return to his employer's premises arriving at 9 p.m., all of the time is
working time. However, if the employee goes home instead of returning to
his employer's premises, the travel after 8 p.m. is home-to-work travel
and is not hours worked. (Walling v. Mid-Continent Pipe Line Co., 143 F.
2d 308 (C. A. 10, 1944))
Click to expand...

I wasn't able to get a definitive from NJ, but i'm fairly positive that it follows the federal regulations. So, if you are required to return to the shop at night, they are required to pay you. But if you take a truck home (or drive your own car to and from the job), there is no requirement...
 
CFR 785.35 covers normal travel to and from home to work..

An employee who travels from home before his regular workday and
returns to his home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary
home to work travel which is a normal incident of employment. This is
true whether he works at a fixed location or at different job sites.
Normal travel from home to work is not worktime.
Click to expand...
 
If that is not standard it should be. And as an employer it is best to figure that out early - I have heard of a guy who got retro-active back pay for estimated travel time for a few years worth.

Years ago I quit a job first day because he wouldn't pay me between jobs.... Only what he was billing at the job - see ya! ;)
 
About 5 years ago I had a long conversation with the NC DOL about travel time. What I learned is that if you are required to report to the office in the morning and then again after the days work is over, then travel to/from the office is paid. If you are required to report to the job and go home from the job, then travel is not paid.

Here is the kicker. Travel time does not have to be paid at the "normal" rate. Travel time can be paid at a reduced rate. In fact, you only have to pay minimum wage for travel time. So if you make more than double minimum wage and get paid travel time one way, look at it as if you are being paid travel both ways at minimum wage.
 
andinator said:
Not judging... but i love how people just willy nilly make up rules and say "There, now isn't that fair!"

Andy
Click to expand...

It wasn't made up willy nilly. It is legal. It is stated in the employee manual that up to 40 minutes travel is paid at half the hourly rate. Any time exceeding 40 minutes is paid at the standard rate.

In fact I break my own policy too often. As I said earlier we are working on Cape Cod whick is over an hour and a half away. I'm paying them for the entire ride both ways. OT rate. But I guess you're right, I need to stop being willy nilly and stick to the policy and keep the 40 minutes each way for myself. And as far as "fair", everyone I hire knows all my policies up front. If it is not "fair" then do not come to work here.
 
LOL there is allot of disparity here on this issue and the feds law is enforceable but to bad most of the time it takes and injury accident and a lawyer to straighten it out and you will need new insurance carrier and now you are labeled in the insurance industry and rates are now higher..This is issue every where and for everyone..You bill from time you got into truck to job site and until job was finished..when you got into truck you billed to next job and same process..at end of day you were paid on shop time to drive back to shop..you were paid shop time to clean and organized truck and you were paid shop time to stock resupplies..you were required to help do it all as everyone was responsible for using parts..you did not get overtime until after 45hrs..your apprentice was paid for the same hours as you..I thought it was fair..we drove long ways away we were allowed to work longer days and get off earlier in the week..makes for nice weekends..if you were hired for particular job you meet us at job site..than there are all thous required trainings you get paid for and what about the required continuing education to maintain your license..these are expenses and if your hourly rate is not setup to compensate for them you are starving your contracting business..Employees don't eat it you do and poor management is not supposed to be an employees problem..remember on lawyer can break your company and a dozen good employees can not put it back together again..kind of like Humpty Dumpty..
 
j_erickson said:
It wasn't made up willy nilly. It is legal. It is stated in the employee manual that up to 40 minutes travel is paid at half the hourly rate. Any time exceeding 40 minutes is paid at the standard rate.
Click to expand...

John, I agree that your system is both legal and fair and I think most people could live with it.

The original poster is not being paid at any sort of rate for his drive back to the shop and that means he is not covered by workman's comp. insurance and this could be a problem. I would much rather be paid at half rate and be covered than full rate one way. The drive home can be more dangerous than working all day.

I tend to worry about insurance more than anything else. I just finished a job where the homeowner is letting one of the contractors drink beer on the job. I'm quite sure they are not insured. If it were me I couldn't sleep just thinking about the possibility of an accident.
 
good point!

good point!

growler said:
John, I agree that your system is both legal and fair and I think most people could live with it.

The original poster is not being paid at any sort of rate for his drive back to the shop and that means he is not covered by workman's comp. insurance and this could be a problem. I would much rather be paid at half rate and be covered than full rate one way. The drive home can be more dangerous than working all day.

I tend to worry about insurance more than anything else. I just finished a job where the homeowner is letting one of the contractors drink beer on the job. I'm quite sure they are not insured. If it were me I couldn't sleep just thinking about the possibility of an accident.
Click to expand...
That is what I was thinking.Not so much the pay for the ride, but the liabilty thing. No wonder the world is full of lawyers!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top