An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 6 – Wage And Hour Laws

H. T RAVEL T IME The California Supreme Court addressed the issue of travel time in the case of Morillion v Royal Packing (2000) 22 Cal. 4th 575. The Court held that it was necessary to distinguish between travel that an employer specifically compels and controls and an ordinary commute. Thus, the compensability of travel time will generally be dependent on whether the travel time is compulsory or is an ordinary commute. This is another area in which California law is broader than federal law. Although the school must pay for travel time, it may establish a different pay scale. 613 The employee must be informed of the different pay rate for travel before the travel begins. 1. T RAVEL T O A ND F ROM W ORK Travel time to and from work is commute time which is not compensable. However, if the employee is required to report to a work location that is different from the employee’s regular work location and the amount of time to travel to the new location is longer than the normal commute time, the employee will need to be compensated for the difference in time between the employee’s normal commute and the new location. 2. T RAVEL D URING T HE W ORKDAY Travel during the workday, after the employee has reported to work, is hours worked unless it is in connection with a bona fide meal break. 3. O UT O F T OWN T RAVEL If a non-exempt employee is traveling out of town for work, all time spent by the employee getting to and from the out of town location is compensable except for time spent eating meals and engaging in personal pursuits. This includes time spent driving or as a passenger on an airplane, train, bus, taxi cab or car, or other mode of transportation, in traveling to and from the out of town location. In addition, time spent waiting to purchase a ticket, check baggage, or board a mode of transportation is compensable. Finally, if the employee’s travel from his or her home to the airport is substantially the same as the distance (and time) between his or her residence and usual place of work, the travel time does not begin until the employee reaches the airport. As a result, the employee must be paid for all hours spent between the time he arrives at the airport and the time he arrives at his hotel. 4. F IELD T RIPS Schools often allow non-exempt employees to “volunteer” to go on field trips to act as chaperones. Although the school typically pays for all travel related expenses such as meals and lodging, the employees are often not paid additional compensation for the time spent on the field trip. However, federal and state law do not permit a non-exempt employee to “volunteer” time to a school, even if the employee really wants to go on the field trip. Regardless of whether the

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