Should I get paid for driving time?
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Should I get paid for driving time?
I clean houses for 14 an hour, only for the time I’m in the house. However my
employer refuses to pay me driving time between jobs. Which I now know isn’t
legal. However, he says that because my pay is 14 an hour that my total pay for
the day equals out to more than minimum wage. For example, I clean for 4 hours
and drive for 2. I only get paid for the 4 but my pay is more than 6 hours of minimum wage. So he doesn’t have to pay me for driving. Is that legal or should he still have to pay me got driving.
Asked on November 16, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
He has to pay you for driving. To slightly oversimplify: your first trip of the morning, when you leave home and go to either the company's office or your first job location, is considered your morning commute to work, and that does not have to be paid; and your last trip, from wherever you are to your home is your evening communte home and does not have to be paid (you don't have to be paid going to/from work at the beginning/end of the workday); BUT all driving for work in between that, during the day, so all driving from, for example, one job site to another, is considered worktime and must be paid. Your employer could legally establish a lower rate for driving, so long as it is at least equal to minimum wage (e.g. you could be paid minimum for the drive time, but $14/hour for the cleaning time), but regardless of what wage he establishes for driving, as an hourly employee, because that mid-day drive time is considered work, you must be paid for it. Based on what you write, you may have a wage and hour claim for unpaid drive time; you should contact the department of labor about filing a claim.
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