Business Travel Timekeeping
Eligibility
Nonexempt and exempt employees who are required to travel for work-related purposes are eligible to be paid normal working and regular pay hours for travel under these policy guidelines.
Purpose
Generally, the time employees spend commuting to and from the primary work location is not considered work time and is excluded from this policy. However, the college considers time spent traveling for work-related purposes during the workday as work time, and thus pays employees’ regular pay for travel time as described in this policy.
Types of Travel Definitions
- Off-premises work-related event from work. If an employee is required to travel to an off-premises worksite after reporting to work, all time spent traveling from the work premises to the off-premises event, in addition to time spent at the work-related event, is counted as work time.
- Off-premises work-related event from home. If an employee is required to travel to and from an off-premises work-related event directly from their home, all time spent for such travel, less the employee’s normal commute time (to/from primary work location), is counted as work time.
- Overnight work-related travel. If an employee is required to travel out of town for work-related purposes, the time spent traveling to and from the out-of-town location, including all time spent as a passenger on an airplane, train, bus, taxicab or car, is considered work time; however, any time the employee spends engaged in personal activities (such as meal time, sleeping, sightseeing, watching television, etc.) will not count as time worked.
Timekeeping and Overtime
Employees in positions classified as nonexempt (i.e. overtime eligible) under the Fair Labor Standards Act may be eligible for compensation for the time they spend traveling. The compensation an employee receives depends on the nature of travel and whether it takes place within normal work hours.
“Normal work hours,” for the purposes of this policy, are defined as an employee’s regularly scheduled work hours (e.g., 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). This definition applies to normal workdays (Monday through Friday) and to weekends (Saturday and Sunday). Employees with variable work hours will have their normal work hours defined by management prior to travel.
Employees are not allowed to “bank” hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a designated work week to be paid or used as time off at a later date. This standard applies to both exempt and non-exempt staff.
Reporting Hours Worked and Overtime for Non-Exempt Staff
All travel time must be recorded by the individual employee temporarily until returning from work-related travel, when the non-exempt employee’s compensable time should be entered into the Employee Self Service system by the employee or the manager, if necessary.
Any potential overtime due to work-related travel must be approved in advance by the employee’s manager. Potential overtime is to be discussed in advance by the manager and the employee prior to the overnight travel event. The manager may assign an alternate work schedule (i.e. new daily start times due to late day travel) for any day to mitigate unnecessary overtime or additional hours of work due to overnight travel.
Supervisors must review and approve all work time reported by non-exempt employees, including time logged as part of employee travel.
Reporting Examples:
Same Day Travel
- Employee begins travel from home or ends travel at home
- All travel time to and from a work event is compensable, minus the employee’s normal commute time to and from work.
- Employee begins or ends travel at the college (work location)
- All travel time to and from a work event is compensable.
Overnight Travel
- All travel time to and from a work event is compensable; however, the employee’s normal commute time from home to work (and work to home at the end of the day) is deducted from compensable travel time if the employee’s travel begins or ends at the employee’s home.
- Employees must be allowed downtime (or off work time) at the conclusion of the workday while on overnight travel. Managers should ensure employees receive adequate downtime.
Included in compensable travel time are the following:
- Travel time to and from a work event, minus normal commute time, including any travel delays.
- Travel to and from the hotel or work event and the airport.
- Time spent working during travel, such as at the airport, on an airplane or in a car.
Compensable travel time does not include the following:
- Overnight stay following cancellation of travel.
- Personal or recreational time spent during travel event (including downtime spent in the hotel)
Timekeeping Questions
Any questions regarding timekeeping requirements for business travel are to be directed first to payroll and/or human resources for clarification.