3 Compliance Updates Employers Should Know for August

The DOL has issued new guidance on when employee travel time may need to be paid under the FLSA, focusing on two common situations: employees who perform work before reaching their first job site and employees who split their day between home and the office.

The key distinction is whether the employee is actually working or simply commuting. Work performed before or during a commute may be compensable, while voluntary travel between home and the office may still be unpaid. Employers should also remember that travel between job sites during the workday is generally treated differently from a normal commute.

For HR, this is a good time to review timekeeping, payroll, and hybrid-work practices for non-exempt and field-based employees to make sure all compensable time is being captured correctly.