Travel between jobsites during the workday is typically paid time. But travel to the first jobsite is usually treated as a normal commute. What determines the answer is how much the employer controls the travel, what the employee does during it, and how the workday is defined.
Why first-site travel is usually treated differently
First-site travel is typically treated like a regular commute. The employee leaves home, drives or gets to where work starts, and begins the day. The employer has not yet directed the employee with any tasks. No productive work happens during the drive, and the employee picks the route and timing. This is why most employers treat first-site travel as unpaid.
But in many white-collar jobs, if the employee has to start their day somewhere that’s not the office (like when visiting a client), the employer typically refunds the expense.
Why travel between jobsites is commonly compensable
Once the workday starts, any travel the employer directs is part of the job. If a worker finishes at one site and drives to the next because the employer told them to, that drive falls within the workday. The employee cannot choose to skip it. The DOL’s guidance on hours worked treats employer-directed travel during the workday as paid time, irrespective of whether the employer explicitly told the employee to track it.
Situations that increase employer risk
- The employer requires the employee to pick up tools or equipment before the first site.
- A mandatory check-in or meeting happens before travel begins.
- Dispatch-based scheduling means the employee does not know the first site until they are already available.
- The workday start point is unclear because no one has defined it.
These are the scenarios where first-site travel starts to look less like a commute and more like directed work. Employers with labor union contracts often face these questions when vague travel rules become a pay dispute.
What HR and payroll teams typically define
- Where the workday starts and ends for each role.
- Which travel scenarios count as paid time and which do not.
- How scheduling and pay systems handle travel between sites.
- What managers tell employees about travel before the first shift.
Getting these answers into writing and aligning them across scheduling, timekeeping, and payroll reduces the chance that one team treats travel differently from another.
TL;DR
- Travel between jobsites during the workday is typically paid, and travel to the first site is usually treated as a commute.
- Risk increases when the employer requires tasks, meetings, or equipment pickup before the first site.
- HR and payroll teams reduce risk by defining where the workday starts and how travel is classified.