Travel-Time Pay Rules for Construction Workers

Travel-time pay for construction workers ranks among the most misunderstood wage-and-hour obligations in the industry. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Portal-to-Portal Act set the baseline rules, but distinguishing compensable travel from an ordinary commute depends on specific circumstances: Where the worker reports, who controls the transportation, and what the worker is doing during the trip.

Getting these distinctions right affects payroll accuracy, overtime calculations, and compliance. Department of Labor (DOL) enforcement actions against construction contractors show how quickly unpaid travel-time disputes can turn into wage-and-hour claims. This guide covers the federal framework, state-level variations, documented enforcement outcomes, and the practical steps construction companies can take to stay compliant.

How Does Federal Law Define Compensable Travel Time?

Two federal statutes control whether construction travel time counts as the hours worked. The FLSA requires covered non-exempt employees to receive at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay for hours worked in excess of the weekly threshold. The Portal-to-Portal Act then carves out an exception: Employers are not liable for travel to and from the actual place where the employee performs principal activities. For construction, the federal travel-time regulations translate these statutes into specific scenarios. The legal doctrines that shape most travel-time determinations include the following:

The Continuous Workday Doctrine

Once a worker starts a principal activity, all time until the last principal activity ends counts as part of the workday. A workday ends when the employee is “completely relieved from duty” for a period long enough to use the time for personal purposes. Any travel occurring between the first and last principal activity of the workday is compensable. A foreman who picks up a company truck at the yard in the morning and returns it later in the day has a continuous workday spanning those hours, including all driving between sites.

The “Integral and Indispensable” Test

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk established that a preliminary activity becomes compensable only when it is both an intrinsic element of the employee’s principal activities and something the employee cannot dispense with if they are to perform them. For construction, this means a foreman required to drive a company truck loaded with tools from the shop to the jobsite is performing integral, indispensable work. A laborer who rides as a passenger in that same truck, outside normal working hours, may not be.

The DOL’s FLSA Hours Worked Advisor states this point directly for construction: “Construction workers are often required to report at a designated meeting place where they are given instructions, pick up tools or supplies, or perform other work prior to traveling to the work site. The travel from the designated meeting place to the work site is part of the day’s work, and must be counted as hours worked.”

Common Travel Scenarios and Whether They Require Pay

Whether construction travel is compensable depends on a single variable, such as where the worker starts, who directed the route, or what the worker carries in the truck. The table summarizes common construction scenarios.

Four of these patterns generate disproportionate exposure to enforcement and merit a closer look.

The Yard-to-Jobsite Rule

When your company requires workers to report to a shop or yard to pick up tools, load materials, or receive instructions before heading to the jobsite, the clock starts at the yard. The home-to-yard commute remains non-compensable, but everything from yard departure forward counts as hours worked. Failure to pay for this stretch of travel is one of the most common violation patterns in construction enforcement actions.

Jobsite-to-Jobsite Travel

Travel between multiple worksites during the workday is generally compensable when it is work-related and part of the employee’s principal activity. A superintendent visiting multiple active projects in one day must be paid for all transit time between them. Collective bargaining agreements and employer policies cannot legally exclude this time from hours worked.

The One-Day Special Assignment

When a worker is sent to a jobsite in another city for a single day, travel time is compensable minus a deduction for the worker’s normal commute. If an electrician’s usual drive is shorter than the special assignment route, the employer owes pay for the difference each way.

The Custom-or-Practice Trap

One risk that catches employers off guard: The Portal-to-Portal Act provides that travel time becomes compensable if an employer has established a custom or practice of paying for it. Per the DOL Solicitor’s Payne brief, including travel time as “hours worked” on payroll records, even unintentionally, can create a binding obligation going forward. Finance leaders should audit payroll records for informal travel payment patterns that may have solidified into legal commitments.

State Laws That Exceed the Federal Baseline

Several states impose travel-time obligations beyond the FLSA and Portal-to-Portal Act, and where state and federal law conflict, the more worker-protective standard controls. California creates the greatest exposure: Under IWC Wage Order 16 and Morillion v. Royal Packing Co., all employer-mandated travel after the first required location, including employer-controlled transportation and equipment delivery, is compensable at regular or overtime rates, and the state’s daily overtime structure can trigger premium pay faster than the federal weekly framework. Washington Administrative Policy ES.C.2 goes further, requiring pay for all employer-authorized or required travel regardless of time of day, with no CBA waivers permitted and potential prevailing wage and daily overtime implications on public works projects.

Other states add their own layers, and these variations compound for multi-state contractors, who should develop state-specific policies and consolidate travel and expense (T&E) data so payroll obligations align with expense reimbursements.

The Financial Cost of Travel-Time Violations

Getting these layered rules wrong is expensive. Travel-time mistakes can create meaningful wage-and-hour exposure in construction, especially when the underlying issue affects multiple workers or flows into overtime calculations.

How the Penalties Multiply

Travel-time violations tend to become more expensive because unpaid wages may be paired with liquidated damages under the FLSA. Your exposure rises when records are inaccurate or when a pay practice affects overtime across an entire crew. Retaliation against workers who raise pay complaints is a separate FLSA issue that may further compound the dispute.

These costs extend beyond direct wage liability. They may also include legal fees, debarment risk on public works projects, and the operational burden of a DOL investigation. Many of these investigations hinge on incomplete or inconsistent records, which makes it worth keeping travel-related spend organized separately from compensable hours. Navan helps capture and organize mileage, per diems, and other travel costs in a single system, making it easier to keep expense records distinct from wage data in payroll.

Four Steps to a Compliant Travel-Time Pay Program

A compliant program separates compensable hours from ordinary commuting, applies the correct pay rate, and feeds accurate data into both payroll and expense management systems. The following four steps address the most common failure points in travel-time disputes:

1. Classify Each Trip Before It Happens

Every travel scenario your crews encounter should map to a compensability determination based on the federal and state rules in this guide. Document these determinations in a written policy that covers yard-to-site travel, inter-site moves, overnight assignments, one-day special assignments, and emergency call-backs. A written policy does not eliminate liability, but it provides a defensible framework and gives payroll staff clear instructions.

2. Record Start and Stop Times at Every Location

GPS-enabled time tracking tied to specific project cost codes can automatically capture yard departures, jobsite arrivals, and inter-site transit times. Construction-grade tracking tools with geofencing and offline capabilities address the practical reality that many jobsites lack reliable connectivity. The goal is a verifiable record that shows when compensable travel began and ended, linked to the project it served. Your time-tracking setup should make this routine, not an audit-driven scramble.

3. Separate Travel-Time Wages From Mileage Reimbursements

A common and costly accounting error is classifying travel hours as expenses or mileage reimbursements as wages. Travel-time pay flows through payroll, with applicable overtime and tax withholding. Mileage reimbursements should be tracked separately from wages under the employer’s reimbursement process. Mixing these up may either inflate payroll taxes or deny workers overtime eligibility. Distinct general ledger codes for each category help prevent misclassification and keep your records audit-ready.

Routing T&E data through a single system can help contractors avoid the disconnects that come with travel-only or expense-only tools, keeping reimbursable costs separate from wage entries before they reach the general ledger.

4. Include Travel Hours in Overtime Calculations

Compensable travel time counts toward overtime calculations under federal law. In California, it also counts toward daily overtime. In Washington, daily overtime rules may apply on certain public works projects. Your payroll system must add compensable travel hours to on-site work hours before calculating overtime, rather than treating them as a separate, flat-rate line item.

Records documenting hours worked and pay practices, including any travel-time records used to support payroll, should be retained in line with FLSA recordkeeping requirements. Per diem payments for overnight assignments should be documented clearly and tracked separately from wage payments.

Compliance Starts With Knowing What You Owe

Travel-time pay for construction workers is one of those obligations that are specific enough to follow yet easy enough to miss, so enforcement actions remain common. The yard-to-jobsite rule, the inter-site transit requirement, and the state-level variations can create discrete compliance checkpoints that your payroll and finance teams can audit against.

If you’re running crews across multiple states or sending workers to overnight assignments, the federal baseline is only your starting point. Build your written policy around the scenarios your workers encounter, track compensable hours separately from reimbursable expenses, and ensure your systems automatically include travel time in overtime calculations. The cost of getting this right is far lower than the cost of a DOL investigation.