Human Resource Blog

6 Responses to “Travel Pay for Hourly Employee in Texas”

1. T Jones Says:
   August 12th, 2010 at 11:16 am

   I work from 8:00am to 4:40pm my Texas empolyer sent me out of state for training. They are saying that since my travel time falls outside of my normal core hours they are not required to pay me travel time. My flight back which was scheduled by my employer leaves at 8:00pm tonight and arrives back into Texas at 11:00pm but my training class is over at 5:00pm.

2. Caitlin Says:
   August 12th, 2010 at 12:40 pm

   Hi T! Unfortunately, yes, this is correct. Texas follows the federal law on travel time for hourly employees. Under that law, you must be paid for all the time you work while out of town — so if the meeting ends at 5 pm, you must be paid until 5 pm. (Meals with clients and driving also count as work time.)

   If you travel between 8 am and 4:40 pm on any day of the week, you must be paid for the travel time, including time spent waiting in an airport. However, a loophole in the federal FLSA permits an employer to not pay the employee for being a passenger in a plane, train or auto if the travel occurs outside of the employees regular work hours.

   We agree that this sucks — given the conditions on planes today, employees should be paid double for flying. But what your employer is doing is legal.HTH,and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Caitlin

3. Homer Garcia Says:
   January 11th, 2011 at 1:09 pm

   Instead of paying our hourly pay of 2 hours for travel time the company wants to pay $25.00 per diem instead. Can the company legaly do this?

4. Caitlin Says:
   January 11th, 2011 at 1:57 pm

   Hi Homer! No, usually not. Per diem usually refers to money the employer gives the worker for meals and/or a hotel room when traveling out of town. If you are legally entitled to payment for travel time, the employer cannot avoid it by paying you a per diem. Contact the Texas Workforce Commission to see if you are entitled to payment. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~Caitlin

5. Heather Says:
   October 17th, 2011 at 4:11 pm

   My Texas employer reqires me to attend meetings for networking at various times of day. He wants to pay me my hourly wage for the meetings however the time it takes me to drive there he wants only to pay me 0.40 on the mile (I use my own vehicle) instead of my hourly wage. Is this legal? So for example I have to go to a meeting 20 miles away stay for and hour then head back to the office. I get paid 0.40 for the 20 miles there and then get paid my wage for the hour I am there, 0.40 for the 20 miles to return.

6. Caitlin Says:
   October 17th, 2011 at 7:21 pm

   Hi Heather! No, this is probably not correct. If you are traveling from the office to the meeting site and back to the office, you should be paid for time in transit between the two worksites. Under the federal FLSA, this travel is “all in a days work” meaning it is paid work time.
   If you were at an all day meeting, and went directly from home to the meeting and returned home without stopping at the office, you would not be entitled to payment for the trip unless the meeting was in another city. If you boss refuses to pay you for this travel time, you should contact the TWC (Texas Workforce Commission) or the US Department of Labor. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Caitlinb

Leave a Reply