An employer
must pay its employees either the minimum wage (currently $6.55 an hour
under North Carolina law) or an employee's promised
rate of pay (including a salary), whichever is greater, and time and one-half
overtime pay based on an employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked
in excess of 40 in a workweek unless the employee is exempt for some reason.
The time an
employee spends driving or riding as a part of their job may or may not
be hours worked based on the circumstances and under certain conditions.
Regular home-to-work and work-to-home travel is normally not work-time.
Travel from the employer's office to a worksite and travel from the worksite
back to the employer's office is work-time for the driver of a company vehicle.
Travel from the employer's office to a worksite and travel from the worksite
back to the employer's office is not work-time for a rider in a company
vehicle as long as the following conditions are met: (1) the riding to and
from the worksite and office in the company vehicle is optional and not
mandatory, (2) for the trip to the first or only worksite, the rider does
not help to load the company vehicle at the office, and (3) for the trip
from the last or only worksite back to the office, the rider does not help
to unload the company vehicle once back at the office. The travel-time between
worksites is work-time for both drivers and riders regardless if using a
company vehicle or an employee's personal vehicle.
Furthermore,
even if the travel-time is work-time, the employer may elect to pay an employee
a lower hourly rate for this work-time, which may be set as low as the minimum
wage. For example, if a construction-employee is paid $15.00 an hour for
their normal duties, the employer may elect to pay this employee $7.00 an
hour (or as low as $6.55 an hour) for the travel-time that is work-time.
Please review the federal labor law rules on hours worked in Code of Federal
Regulation (CFR) 785, which the North Carolina Department of Labor has adopted.
The rules on "Travel Time" are found in 785.33 through 785.41.
Here is the Web site to go directly to CFR 785: www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_785/toc.htm
Revised 07-24-2008
