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Compensable Travel Time: What Two New DOL Opinion Letters Mean for Employers
What employers should know about key developments this week: DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-9: The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) evaluated several real-world scenarios—such as an employee working from home in the morning to avoid traffic before commuting in later—and concluded that voluntary midday travel between home and the office qualifies as “normal” or “ordinary” commuting, and need not be compensated, even where the employee performs work at both locations. DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-10: In a second letter, the WHD distinguished between commute-related tasks that are merely incidental to travel and those that are integral to job duties. Specifically, the WHD found that time spent by the employee in question receiving pages or assignments was not compensable, while time spent calling clients or scheduling appointments was compensable. Why These Letters Matter: Work increasingly happens in noncontinuous blocks across different locations, raising new questions about when travel time is compensable. While WHD opinion letters aren't binding on courts, they provide guidance for employers; the agency has issued 12 so far in 2026, with more expected. In this episode of Employment Law This Week®, Epstein Becker Green attorneys Paul DeCamp and Eduardo J. Quiroga discuss the two opinion letters and their implications for compensable travel time. - Visit our site for this week’s video edition and more news: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw444 Sign up for notifications: https://www.ebglaw.com/eltw-subscribe Visit https://www.EmploymentLawThisWeek.com - Epstein Becker Green is a national law firm focused on health care and life sciences; employment, labor, and workforce management; and litigation and business disputes. This video is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this video does not create an attorney-client relationship.  EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. © Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. All Rights Reserved. Attorney Advertising.
Employment Law This Week
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