DOL Issues New Opinion Letters On Compensable Travel Time For Remote And Field Employees

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has issued two new Wage and Hour Division opinion letters addressing a recurring wage-and-hour question for employers: when is employee travel time compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? The guidance is particularly relevant to employers with remote, hybrid, and field-based workforces.

DOL opinion letters provide employers with guidance on a wide range of employee work arrangements. By clarifying how the FLSA applies to various commuting scenarios, these opinions help employers implement compliant practices.

The latest opinion letters, issued as part of the DOL’s renewed emphasis on compliance assistance, clarify that ordinary home-to-work commuting generally remains noncompensable even when employees work remotely for part of the day. At the same time, the DOL reaffirmed that travel occurring after employees begin principal work activities may be compensable.

Opinion Letter No. FLSA2026-9: Working from Home Does Not Automatically Turn Commuting Time into Paid Time

The first opinion letter addresses a common scenario in today’s hybrid workplace: an employee performs work from home and later travels to the employer’s worksite. The DOL concluded that ordinary travel between an employee’s home and the employer’s workplace generally remains noncompensable commuting time, even when the employee has performed some work remotely beforehand.

According to the DOL, the legal analysis has not changed merely because remote work has become significantly more common since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Agency emphasized that ordinary home-to-work travel remains excluded from compensable working time under the Portal-to-Portal Act, provided the travel is truly part of the employee’s normal commute.

This guidance may be particularly helpful for employers that have struggled with how to account for hybrid employees who check emails, attend a virtual meeting, or perform other work at home before heading to the office. The opinion letter suggests that such preliminary remote work does not necessarily convert a routine commute into compensable time.

Opinion Letter No. FLSA2026-10: Addresses Field Employees and Compensable Pre-Work Communications

In a second opinion letter, the DOL considered a field engineer who received messages from the employer before beginning work assignments. The Agency concluded that merely receiving communications before commencing work did not require compensation under the facts presented. For instance, the DOL stated that the field engineer receiving pages is incidental to his use of his employer-provided vehicle for commuting to assignments.

However, the DOL distinguished that circumstance from activities that constituted principal work activities. Once the employee began scheduling client work with clients or other field engineers and traveling to client locations, those activities became compensable working time. The opinion letter reinforces the longstanding principle that travel occurring after the first principal activity of the day generally must be counted as hours worked.

Practical Considerations for Employers

Although DOL opinion letters are not legally binding on courts, they provide insight into how the Agency interprets and enforces the FLSA. They can also provide a good-faith compliance framework for employers facing questions regarding wage-and-hour obligations.

Employers should consider reviewing:

• Timekeeping policies applicable to remote and hybrid employees;
• Expectations regarding pre-shift emails, texts, and electronic communications;
• Compensation practices for field service, maintenance, sales, and other mobile employees;
• Policies governing travel between job sites, client locations, and company facilities; and
• Training provided to supervisors regarding when employees are considered to have started their workday.

Employers should also remember that state law may impose compensation requirements beyond those required by federal law. As a result, compliance analyses should account for both the FLSA and applicable state wage-and-hour laws.

Key Takeaway

The DOL’s latest guidance confirms that ordinary commuting time generally remains noncompensable, even in hybrid work arrangements. At the same time, employers should carefully evaluate when employees begin performing principal work activities, as travel and related activities occurring after the workday has effectively started may be compensable under the FLSA.

Employers with remote, hybrid, or field-based workforces may wish to review their timekeeping and travel-time practices to ensure compliance with the DOL’s latest guidance and to minimize wage-and-hour litigation risk.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.