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travel time?
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travel time?
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
An employee has requested the opportunity to work at home for 2 weeks. She will be coming in daily to pick up work which may be after she has already started her work day at home. I've looked over the
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » travel time?
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travel time?
posted at 7/1/2009 7:29 AM EDT
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Posts: 94
First: 2/7/2008 Last: 3/21/2011 |
An employee has requested the opportunity to work at home for 2 weeks. She will be coming in daily to pick up work which may be after she has already started her work day at home. I've looked over the DOL travel time information. Since she will be coming to work in the middle of the day, is this time compensable or would it be the equivalent of commuting to work and back?
This is the DOL info: Time spent traveling during normal work hours is considered compensable work time. Time spent in home-to-work travel by an employee in an employer-provided vehicle, or in activities performed by an employee that are incidental to the use of the vehicle for commuting, generally is not "hours worked" and, therefore, does not have to be paid. This provision applies only if the travel is within the normal commuting area for the employer's business and the use of the vehicle is subject to an agreement between the employer and the employee or the employee's representative. |
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travel time?
posted at 7/1/2009 9:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 94
First: 2/7/2008 Last: 3/21/2011 |
If that is the case, as she is driving back and forth, if she is in an accident, is the company liable? Would if fall under WC or our liability insurance or her auto insurance?
If she did not travel to and from work, would we still need to carry WC on her? If she falls or is injured in her own home, are we responsible? |
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travel time?
posted at 7/1/2009 12:22 PM EDT
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Posts: 464
First: 6/30/2004 Last: 11/22/2010 |
Discuss the driving liability issues with your insurance broker. Most states and most companies require the insurance carried by the driver to be exhausted before any company liability kicks in, and most insurance policies have a non-owned and/or hired auto insurance provision that kicks in after the employees policy is done.
If this is only for 2 weeks, why are you even allowing it? Just say no, like the anit-drug commercials. I applaud you for thinking through some of the work at home issues, lots of folks ignore those. There are a whole ream of technology issues to contend with, which usually accompany work-at-home plans. One of the bigger ones that always concerns me has to do with virus protection, but there are plenty more. Finally, two weeks of this driving time, including mileage might not be significant. Whomever has budget responsibility should weigh in on the decision. Otherwise, the group has steered you in the right direction about the payment of the time. |
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