We are a railroad contractor that works in various states across the US. Most of our employees live in the Pennsylvania/West Virginia area. I am trying to see how others deal with travel time when an employee has to work away from home where an overnight stay is required. We were part of a lawsuit that originated out of NY that stated we violated the travel time rules because we were not paying our employees from home to the jobsite and then back home after each work week/rotation. Since this happened, our labor attorney informed us that we have to pay travel time to and from a jobsite after each work week/rotation unless we provide them a place to stay. As an example, we have a jobsite in Savannah, GA which is about 9-10 hours of drive time. Every employee gets paid their regular rate of pay for all drive time hours whether they are driving their own car, riding with someone else, or they are driving/riding in a company vehicle. I have heard from one other company in our industry that deals with the same thing and their understanding is this rule only applies in NY. Everywhere else, you only need to pay travel time for the first time to the jobsite and once the job is over assuming the work schedule stays consistent. If there is a long break in the work schedule, then travel time back home and back to the jobsite would apply. They are also not covering hotel rooms during the few days in between each work week so the employees either have to pay for the hotel themselves or go home without any compensation.
Does anyone else handle their travel pay this way? I am trying to figure out what is legally required but also being sympathetic towards the employees making these longs trips to and from home. I am hoping to consult with another attorney who might be more familiar with issues like this if anyone has a recommendation of someone I could talk to.
Thank you.
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Adam Lutz
Controller
G.W. Peoples Contracting Co., Inc.
-A self-performing union, minority owned, Railroad Contractor with approx. 75 employees
Pittsburgh PA
(412) 760-2737
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