If you have employees
travel for business, it’s important to have a written policy that sets out when
and how they will be paid for their travel time. Here’s a sample policy that
private-sector employers can tailor to their organization’s needs.
Sample
Business Travel Pay Policy
1. Travel requirements. Any employee may be
required to travel as part of the job. The Company will provide employees with
as much notice of travel requirements as business circumstances permit.
2. Travel conduct. Traveling employees must
comply with all applicable policies, such as not drinking while driving,
reporting back to the Company on time, and updating the Company about travel
disruptions.
3. Travel Pay. The Human Resources
Department will administer travel pay. Employees exempt from overtime will be
paid their normal salaries. Employees entitled to overtime will be paid for
hours worked during travel time based on the guidelines in this policy and
consistent with state and federal law. The following guidelines are used to
calculate travel pay:
• Time spent traveling
away from home, whether for one day or overnight, is considered hours worked.
This is true whether the travel occurs on an employee’s regularly scheduled
work day or on a regular day off.
Travel time includes
time spent driving or as a passenger on an airplane, train, bus, taxicab, car,
or other mode of transportation in traveling to and from the out-of-town event.
It also includes time spent waiting to purchase a ticket, check baggage, or get
on board. However, personal activities, such as a 30-minute or longer break
from travel to eat, sleep, or sightsee, are not time worked and will not be
compensated. If the employee travels out of town overnight, travel time ends
when the employee arrives at the hotel.
Note that if the time an
employee spends traveling between his or her home and the terminal of a common
carrier (such as an airport or bus terminal) is substantially the same as the
time it takes the employee to travel between his or her home and usual place of
reporting for work, pay for travel time will not begin until the employee
reaches the terminal.
• As permitted by
Company will pay employees for travel hours at a special travel rate of $___
[at least minimum wage]. Note, however, that an employee who performs any work
during the travel time will be compensated for that actual work time at his or
her
normal hourly rate of
pay.
• If travel time exceeds
8 hours in one day or if travel time plus working time exceeds 8 hours in a day
(or 40 hours in a workweek), the Company will compensate the employee at the
appropriate overtime pay rate, which will be equal to 11/2 times the weighted
average of the employee’s regular pay rate and travel time pay rate.
4. Travel expenses. The Company will reimburse employees for all business-related
out-of-pocket expenses incurred during business travel. Employees must retain
all receipts and other documentation regarding travel expenses to submit for
reimbursement.
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